Other forms: beacons
A beacon is a light or mark set up as a signal. A warning beacon, a beacon on the hill, light the beacons.
Hilltop beacon fires were the old warning system, lit in a chain across a country — many English hills are still called Beacon for that reason. At sea, a beacon is a fixed navigational mark. In aviation and radio, a beacon transmits a signal for position. Figuratively, a beacon is something that gives hope or guidance: a beacon of hope. Note Bluetooth beacon, the modern low-power kind used for tracking.
1nounbeaconA light or mark set up as a signal.
“Sailors used the beacon on the headland to steer safely into the bay.”
2noungivesSomething that gives hope or guidance.
“The small school became a beacon of hope for girls in the region.”
beacon is a signal.
Old English beacn meant a sign or signal, from a Germanic root about showing. Beckon is the same word — a beckon is a signal made with the hand, and a beacon one made with fire.
Middle English
beken
English, today
beacon
Built from
From Middle English beken. From Middle English beken, from Old English bēacn (“sign, signal”), from Proto-West Germanic baukn, from Proto-Germanic baukną, from Proto-Indo-European bʰeh₂u-, bʰeh₂- (“to shine”). a doublet of buoy. Compare West Frisian beaken (“buoy”), Dutch baken (“beacon”), Middle Low German bāke (“beacon, sign”), German Bake (“traffic sign”), Middle High German bouchen (“sign”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in Sea & Sailing, Emergency & Rescue