Where does “predawn” come from?
Predawn combines English pre- and dawn, ultimately deriving from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós and per-, meaning to go forward or across.
predawn (English): The period immediately preceding dawn
Definitions
- The period immediately preceding dawn
Ancestry of “predawn”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | pre- | Before; physically in front of; anterior;... |
| 2 | Middle English | pre- | — |
| 3 | Latin | prae- | before; in front; in charge |
| 4 | Proto-Italic | prai- | — |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | preh₂- | before, in front |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |