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Dawn vs Midnight - What's the difference?

dawn | midnight |

As nouns the difference between midnight and dawn

is that midnight is the middle of the night; 12:00 am; on a 12-hour clock, 12:00 at night; on a 24-hour clock, 00:00 while dawn is the morning twilight period immediately before sunrise.

As a verb dawn is

to begin to brighten with daylight.

As a proper noun Dawn is

{{given name|female|from=English}} sometimes given to a girl born at that time of day.

dawn

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To begin to brighten with daylight.
  • * Bible, (w) xxviii. 1
  • In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdaleneto see the sepulchre.
  • To start to appear or be realized.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he was now beginning to exhibit visible signs of uneasiness, the consciousness dawning upon him that his eccentricity was not receiving the ovation it merited.}}
  • To begin to give promise; to begin to appear or to expand.
  • * (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • in dawning youth
  • * (Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
  • when life awakes, and dawns at every line

    Derived terms

    * dawn on

    See also

    *

    Noun

  • (uncountable) The morning twilight period immediately before sunrise.
  • (countable) The rising of the sun.
  • (uncountable) The time when the sun rises.
  • (uncountable) The beginning.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Yesterday’s fuel , passage=The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania. The first barrels of crude fetched $18 (around $450 at today’s prices).}}

    Synonyms

    * (rising of the sun) break of dawn, dayspring, sunrise * (time when the sun rises) break of dawn, break of day, crack of dawn, daybreak, dayspring, sunrise, sunup * (beginning) beginning, onset, start

    Antonyms

    * dusk

    Hypernyms

    * twilight

    Derived terms

    * crack of dawn * dawn chorus * it is always darkest before the dawn

    See also

    * crepuscular

    Anagrams

    * wand ----

    midnight

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The middle of the night; 12:00 am; on a 12-hour clock, 12:00 at night; on a 24-hour clock, 00:00.
  • * :
  • "She twisted her hands behind her;
    but all the knots held good!
    She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood!
    They stretched and strained in the darkness,
    and the hours crawled by like years,
    Till, now, on the stroke of midnight ,
    Cold, on the stroke of midnight ,
    The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers!
  • The middle of the night: the moment of time, which is equidistant between sunset and sunrise.
  • Antonyms

    * noon, midday

    Derived terms

    * burn the midnight oil * midnight regulation * postmidnight

    See also

    *