beacon

See also: Beacon

English

Etymology

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”).

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”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbiːkən/
• Rhymes: -iːkən

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

beacon (plural beacons)

1. A signal fire to notify of the approach of an enemy, or to give any notice, commonly of warning.
   • 1713, [John] Gay, Rural Sports. A Poem. […], 2nd edition, London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 15:

     No flaming Beacons caſt their Blaze afar, / The dreadful Signal of invaſive VVar.

2. (nautical) A signal, buoy, post, or other conspicuous mark erected on an eminence near the shore, or moored in shoal water, as a guide to mariners, particularly to warn vessels of danger.
   • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XVII, page 28:

     Henceforth, wherever thou may’st roam, / ⁠My blessing, like a line of light, / ⁠Is on the waters day and night, / And like a beacon guards thee home.

3. A high hill or other easily distinguishable object near the shore which can serve as guidance for seafarers.
4. (figurative) That which gives notice of danger, hope, etc., or keeps people on the correct path; a source of inspiration.

   a beacon of hope

   • c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:

     Modest doubt is called / The beacon of the wise.

5. An electronic device that broadcasts a signal to nearby portable devices, enabling smartphones etc. to perform actions when in physical proximity to the beacon.
6. (Internet) Short for web beacon.

Derived terms

• aerobeacon
• beaconage
• Beaconite
• beaconless
• beaconlike
• beacon of hope
• beaconry
• beacon school
• beaconwise
• Belisha beacon
• bog beacon
• daybeacon
• day beacon
• emergency position indicating radio beacon
• floating beacon
• interbeacon
• marker beacon
• personal locator beacon
• racon
• radio beacon
• rotating beacon
• swamp beacon
• web beacon

Translations

signal fire

• Arabic: فَنَار m (fanār)
• Bikol Central: tingraw
• Bulgarian: сигнален огън m (signalen ogǎn)
• Catalan: balisa (ca) f
• Chinese: 烽火 (zh) (fēng huǒ), 狼烟 (zh) (láng yān)
• Dutch: baken (nl) n, bakenvuur n
• Finnish: merkkituli (fi)
• French: balise (fr) f
• Galician: facho (gl) m, brandariz m
• German: Leuchtfeuer (de) n
• Greek:

  Ancient: φρυκτός m (phruktós), πυρσός m (pursós)

• Hebrew: מַשּׂוּאָה (he) f (masu'á)
• Hungarian: jelzőtűz (hu), jelzőfény (hu), irányfény, jelfény
• Japanese: かがり火 (かがりび, kagaribi)
• Macedonian: си́гнален о́ган m (sígnalen ógan)
• Maori: ramaroa
• Norwegian: varde (no) m
• Ottoman Turkish: فنار (fenar, fener)
• Portuguese: almenara (pt) f
• Russian: сигна́льный ого́нь m (signálʹnyj ogónʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: сигнална ва̏тра f

  Roman: signalna vȁtra f

• Spanish: baliza (es) f, almenara (es) f
• Swedish: vårdkase (sv) c, böte (sv) ? (used in Finland and in eastern Sweden)
• Turkish: fener (tr)
• Ukrainian: сигна́льний вого́нь m (syhnálʹnyj vohónʹ)

signaling or guiding mark erected as guide to mariners

• Arabic: مَنَار m (manār)
• Catalan: balisa (ca) f
• Chinese: 燈塔 / 灯塔 (zh) (dēng tǎ)
• Dutch: baken (nl) n
• Finnish: merimerkki (fi), viitta (fi), loisto (fi)
• French: phare (fr) m
• Galician: balisma f, mallón m
• German: Bake (de) f
• Hungarian: jelzőállomás, világítótorony (hu), irányjeladó, jelzőberendezés (hu)
• Italian: faro (it) m, radiofaro (it) m
• Korean: 등댓불 (deungdaetbul) (of a lighthouse)
• Ottoman Turkish: فنار (fenar, fener)
• Polish: bakan (pl) m, baken (pl) m
• Portuguese: farol (pt) m, fanal (pt) m
• Russian: мая́к (ru) m (maják) (stationary), ба́кен (ru) m (báken) (floating)
• Spanish: almenara (es) f
• Swedish: sjömärke (sv) n, båk (sv)
• Ukrainian: мая́к (uk) m (maják), ба́кен (uk) m (báken)

high hill or similar

• Dutch: baken (nl) n
• Finnish: maamerkki (fi)
• French: amer (fr) m
• Galician: curuto m, cruto m
• German: Bake (de) f, Orientierungspunkt (de) m
• Hungarian: tereppont (hu), ^{(please verify)} irányzék (hu)
• Italian: punto cospicuo m
• Norwegian: røys (no), landemerke n
• Spanish: cúspide (es) f, punto conspicuo m
• Swedish: sjömärke (sv) n, landmärke n, röse (sv)

that which warns

• Bulgarian: предупреждение (bg) n (predupreždenie)
• Finnish: varoitin (fi)
• German: Fanal (de)
• Hungarian: vezércsillag (hu), inspiráció (hu), reménység (hu)
• Macedonian: предупреду́вање n (predupredúvanje)
• Russian: предупрежде́ние (ru) n (predupreždénije)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: упозоре́ње n

  Roman: upozorénje (sh) n

• Ukrainian: пересторо́га f (perestoróha)

See also

• cairn
• leading mark
• navigation aid
• navigation mark
• radar reflector
• sea mark, seamark

Verb

beacon (third-person singular simple present beacons, present participle beaconing, simple past and past participle beaconed)

1. (intransitive) To act as a beacon.
2. (transitive) To give light to, as a beacon; to light up; to illumine.
   • 1801, Thomas Campbell, Lochiel's Warning:

     That beacons the darkness of heaven.

3. (transitive) To furnish with a beacon or beacons.

Related terms

• beckon