Dawnynge

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. The first faint light that appears in the sky before sunrise ; the moment when something new starts to become apparent
2. Daybreak, the time when morning light first breaks over the horizon ; the early emergence of an idea, feeling or era
3. The break of day as light first returns to the sky ; the gradual onset or first realization of something previously unseen

Etymology: "Dawnynge" is a Middle English spelling of "dawning," the present participle of the verb "dawn," meaning "becoming day" or "beginning to appear." The form is an inflection, so it shows the verb in its ongoing sense, as in "the morning was dawning." The verb descends from Old English "dagian," meaning "to become day," which was built on "dæg," the word for "day." Its sense of growing light came first, and the figurative sense of something beginning to emerge or be understood, as in "it dawned on him," developed later from that base.