A.Word.A.Day --beacon

A.Word.A.Day

Home

Nov 4, 2024

This week’s theme
Idioms & metaphors

This week’s words
beacon
security blanket
incandescent
nuclear option
lily-handed

The Arqiva Tower aka Emley Moor Mast
Emley, Huddersfield, UK

Photo: Steven Earnshaw

Previous week’s theme
Lesser-known counterparts of words

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

A language is a lighthouse of history in an ocean of oblivion. It illuminates the past and helps us avoid the shoals and rocks that tripped up previous generations.

Languages record not only literal meanings but also metaphors and idioms, as it’s easier to understand something when told as a story. After all, each word is a tiny story in itself.

In this week’s lexical journey we’ll explore five terms that are also used metaphorically and idiomatically.

What idioms and metaphors have you coined? Share below or email us at words@wordsmith.org. And as usual, make sure to include your location (city, state).

beacon

PRONUNCIATION:

(BEE-kuhn)

MEANING:

noun:	1. Something that provides a guiding or warning signal, such as a lighthouse.
	2. Someone or something that illuminates, inspires, or guides.
verb tr.:	1. To serve as a beacon.
	2. To furnish with a beacon, such as outfitting a ship to mark shoals.
verb intr.:	To emit a signal like a beacon.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Old English beacen (sign, signal). The word beckon is a cousin. Earliest documented use: before 1150.

NOTES:

While a lighthouse is the most common example, the term beacon encompasses any prominent object that signals a location. Examples range from radio stations to radar transponders to the beacons found in life vests. Historically, fires lit on hilltops served as beacons. This legacy is why many cities have neighborhoods or landmarks named Beacon Hill.

USAGE:

“Tom Wickham: I’ve been very fortunate to have hockey in my life, and I really want to be a beacon for other young men and other people to aspire to.”
Darcy Jennings; Full Circle Moment as Wickham Visits Alice; The Northern Territory News (Darwin, Australia); Oct 11, 2024.

“A light rain was falling, and then came a rainbow. ‘Senator Lugar, look,’ I beaconed.”
Brian Howey; Lugar (and Morris) Converted Swords to Ploughshares; Evansville Courier & Press (Indiana); Aug 30, 2024.

See more usage examples of beacon in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

A king can stand people's fighting, but he can't last long if people start thinking. -Will Rogers, humorist (4 Nov 1879-1935)

We need your help

Help us continue to spread the magic of words to readers everywhere

Donate

Subscriber Services
Awards | Stats | Links | Privacy Policy
Contribute | Advertise