beacon

Meanings

Noun

• A signal fire to notify of the approach of an enemy, or to give any notice, commonly of warning.
• A signal or conspicuous mark erected on an eminence near the shore, or moored in shoal water, as a guide to mariners.
• A high hill or other easily distinguishable object near the shore which can serve as guidance for seafarers.
• That which gives notice of danger, or keeps people on the correct path.
• An electronic device that broadcasts a signal to nearby portable devices, enabling smartphones etc. to perform actions when in physical proximity to the beacon.

Verb

• To act as a beacon.
• To give light to, as a beacon; to light up; to illumine.
• To furnish with a beacon or beacons.

Origin

• From Middle English beken, from Old English bēacn ("sign, signal"), from Proto-West Germanic *baukn, from Proto-Germanic *baukną (compare West Frisian beaken ("buoy"), Dutch baken ("beacon"), Middle Low German bāke ("beacon, sign"), German Bake ("traffic sign"), Middle High German bouchen ("sign")), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂u-, *bʰeh₂-.