Meaning of "Breaking Dawn"

[ichigomaru]

Hi there
My first post here ;D
I'd like to know the meaning of "breaking dawn"?
Thx!

[Greg Forbes]

(Not a teacher)

One of the definitions of the verb "to break" is "to come into being as if bursting forth." So we say that both the dawn and the day "are breaking." The noun "daybreak" reflects this ("dawnbreak" is not a word).
The end of the day (dusk) does not break, as it just gradually fades away.

GF

[moniza]

(Not a teacher)

One of the definitions of the verb "to break" is "to come into being as if bursting forth." So we say that both the dawn and the day "are breaking." The noun "daybreak" reflects this ("dawnbreak" is not a word).
The end of the day (dusk) does not break, as it just gradually fades away.

GF

Not a teacher,
Dawn is the time of the day when the light first appears in the sky.
But breaking dawn may be the commencement of the day.

[supada]

Oh.. I just thought it was misspelled. : )

[ichigomaru]

hmm, so you are saying that both, break and dawn mean the same thing. But ir really sound kind strange. I thought it was breaking the dawn (twilight), as it stop to sunrise, something like an eternal night. Actually, the word breaking dawn is a book's name.

[Greg Forbes]

(Not a teacher)

Ichigomaru,

"Daybreak" and "dawn" both mean the same thing-the period between the arrival of first light (twilight) and the earliest appearance of the sun (sunrise). The verb "break" here does not refer to "breaking" the darkness, but it is the day or the dawn that "breaks." So daybreak is not breaking the dawn, daybreak IS the dawn. The difficulty is that "break" has a rather rare meaning here. It does not mean "to interrupt" or "suddenly separate into parts" as it usually does but instead "to burst or explode onto the scene."

Is this of any help?

G.F.