The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Dawn \Dawn\, n.
   1. The break of day; the first appearance of light in the
      morning; show of approaching sunrise.
      [1913 Webster]

            And oft at dawn, deep noon, or falling eve.
                                                  --Thomson.
      [1913 Webster]

            No sun, no moon, no morn, no noon,
            No dawn, no dusk, no proper time of day. --Hood.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. First opening or expansion; first appearance; beginning;
      rise. "The dawn of time." --Thomson.
      [1913 Webster]

            These tender circumstances diffuse a dawn of
            serenity over the soul.               --Pope.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Dawn \Dawn\ (d[add]n), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Dawned (d[add]nd);
   p. pr. & vb. n. Dawning.] [OE. dawnen, dawen, dagen, daien,
   AS. dagian to become day, to dawn, fr. d[ae]g day; akin to D.
   dagen, G. tagen, Icel. daga, Dan. dages, Sw. dagas. See
   Day. [root]71.]
   1. To begin to grow light in the morning; to grow light; to
      break, or begin to appear; as, the day dawns; the morning
      dawns.
      [1913 Webster]

            In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn
            toward the first day of the week, came Mary
            Magdalene . . . to see the sepulcher. --Matt.
                                                  xxviii. 1.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To began to give promise; to begin to appear or to expand.
      "In dawning youth." --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

            When life awakes, and dawns at every line. --Pope.
      [1913 Webster]

            Dawn on our darkness and lend us thine aid. --Heber,
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

dawn
    n 1: the first light of day; "we got up before dawn"; "they
         talked until morning" [syn: dawn, dawning, morning,
         aurora, first light, daybreak, break of day, break
         of the day, dayspring, sunrise, sunup, cockcrow]
         [ant: sundown, sunset]
    2: the earliest period; "the dawn of civilization"; "the morning
       of the world" [syn: dawn, morning]
    3: an opening time period; "it was the dawn of the Roman Empire"
    v 1: become clear or enter one's consciousness or emotions; "It
         dawned on him that she had betrayed him"; "she was
         penetrated with sorrow" [syn: click, get through,
         dawn, come home, get across, sink in, penetrate,
         fall into place]
    2: appear or develop; "The age of computers had dawned"
    3: become light; "It started to dawn, and we had to get up"

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

110 Moby Thesaurus words for "dawn":
   A, advent, alpha, antemeridian, appear, appearance, arise, arrival,
   arrive, aurora, auroral, awakening, begin, beginning, birth,
   blast-off, break, break of day, brighten, brightening, broad day,
   chanticleer, cockcrow, cocklight, come to mind, commence,
   commencement, crack of dawn, creation, cutting edge, dawning, day,
   day glow, day-peep, daybreak, daylight, dayshine, dayspring,
   daytide, daytime, develop, dusk, edge, emerge, emergence,
   establishment, first brightening, first light, flying start,
   foundation, fresh start, full sun, genesis, gleam, green flash,
   grow bright, grow light, inauguration, inception, institution,
   jump-off, kick-off, leading edge, light, light of day, lighten,
   matin, matinal, matutinal, midday sun, morn, morning,
   new departure, noonlight, noontide light, occur to, oncoming,
   onset, opening, origin, originate, origination, outbreak, outset,
   outstart, peep of day, prime, ray of sunshine, rise, running start,
   send-off, setting in motion, setting-up, shine, square one, start,
   start-off, starting point, sun spark, sunbeam, sunbreak, sunburst,
   sunlight, sunrise, sunshine, sunup, take-off, twilight, unfold,
   vestibule of Day



V.E.R.A. -- Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (February 2016):

DAWN
       Defense Attache Worldwide Network (network, mil.)


The Devil's Dictionary (1881-1906):

DAWN, n.  The time when men of reason go to bed.  Certain old men
prefer to rise at about that time, taking a cold bath and a long walk
with an empty stomach, and otherwise mortifying the flesh.  They then
point with pride to these practices as the cause of their sturdy
health and ripe years; the truth being that they are hearty and old,
not because of their habits, but in spite of them.  The reason we find
only robust persons doing this thing is that it has killed all the
others who have tried it.