beacon
pronunciation
How to pronounce beacon in British English:
UK [ˈbi:kən]
How to pronounce beacon in American English:
US [ˈbikən]
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- Noun:
- a fire (usually on a hill or tower) that can be seen from a distance
- a radio station that broadcasts a directional signal for navigational purposes
- a tower with a light that gives warning of shoals to passing ships
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- Verb:
- shine like a beacon
- guide with a beacon
Word Origin
- beacon
- beacon: [OE] In Old English, bēacen meant simply ‘sign’; it did not develop its modern senses ‘signal fire’ and ‘lighthouse’ until the 14th century. Its source is West Germanic *baukna, from which English also gets beckon [OE].=> beckon
- beacon (n.)
- Old English beacen "sign, portent, lighthouse," from West Germanic *baukna "beacon, signal" (cognates: Old Frisian baken, Old Saxon bokan, Old High German bouhhan); not found outside Germanic. Perhaps borrowed from Latin bucina "a crooked horn or trumpet, signal horn." But more likely from PIE *bhew-, a variant of the base *bha- (1) "to gleam, shine" (see phantasm). Figurative use from c. 1600.
Synonym
Example
- 1. Chile has also been a beacon of monetary sophistication .
- 2. The house the new house , shining beacon of possibility !
- 3. Whether that beacon will shine again is unclear .
- 4. What few may know is that lincoln 's example has been a beacon to the rest of the world as well .
- 5. The currents round the beacon were more than he could manage .