English
Etymology
From (deprecated template usage ) [etyl] Middle English awakenen or awaknen , from (deprecated template usage ) [etyl] Old English awæcnan or awæcnian , from a- plus wæcnan or wæcnian .
Pronunciation
Verb
awaken (third-person singular simple present awakens , present participle awakening , simple past and past participle awakened ) (but see usage notes)
( transitive ) To cause to become awake .
She awakened him by ringing the bell.
( intransitive ) To stop sleeping ; awake .
Each morning he awakens with a smile on his face.
( transitive , figurative ) To bring into action (something previously dormant ); to stimulate .
Awaken your entrepreneurial spirit!
We hope to awaken your interest in our programme.
( theology ) To call to a sense of sin .
( rare ) past participle of awake
1665 Robert Hooke, Micrographia
[This ant] I ſuffered to lye above an hour in the Spirit; and after I had taken it out, and put its body and legs into a natural poſture, remained moveleſs about an hour; but then , upon a ſudden, as if it had been awaken out of a drunken ſleep, it ſuddenly reviv'd and ran away...
Usage notes
This verb, for many speakers, has been essentially conflated with the verb awake , and has adopted parts of awake ’s conjugation. awaken remains the bare form (and also in awakens and awakening ), but its simple past and past participle are replaced by awake ’s: awoke and awoken , respectively.
For many others, awaken has simply supplanted awake , without adopting conjugational elements from awake .
Synonyms
Antonyms
Translations
transitive: to cause to become awake
Apache:
Western Apache: náô’da
Arabic: أَفَاقَ ( ʔafāqa ) , أَيْقَظَ ( ʔayqaẓa ) , أَصْحَى ( ʔaṣḥā )
Moroccan Arabic: فيّق ( fijjaq )
Armenian: զարթնեցնել (hy) ( zartʻnecʻnel ) , արթնացնել ( artʻnacʻnel )
Chinese:
Mandarin: 喚醒 / 唤醒 (zh) ( huànxǐng ) , 唤醒 (zh) ( huànxǐng ) , 叫醒 (zh) ( jiàoxǐng )
Czech: vzbudit (cs)
Danish: vække (da)
Dutch: wekken (nl) , wakker maken
Estonian: äratama
Finnish: herättää (fi)
French: réveiller (fr)
Georgian: გაღვიძება ( gaɣviʒeba )
German: aufwecken (de) , wecken (de)
Greek:
Ancient: ἐγείρω ( egeírō )
Hungarian: ébreszt (hu) , felébreszt (hu)
(deprecated template usage ) {{trans-mid }}
Interlingua: eveliar
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Italian: svegliare (it)
Japanese: 起こす (ja) ( おこす, okosu )
Latin: expergō , excito
Norwegian:
Bokmål: vekke (no)
Persian: بلند کردن (fa) ( boland kardan ) , ( colloquial ) بلن کردن ( bolan kardan ) , بیدار کردن (fa) ( bidâr kardan )
Portuguese: acordar (pt) , despertar (pt)
Quechua: hatariy
Romanian: scula (ro) , deștepta (ro) , trezi (ro)
Russian: буди́ть (ru) impf ( budítʹ ) , разбуди́ть (ru) pf ( razbudítʹ ) , пробужда́ть (ru) impf ( probuždátʹ ) , пробуди́ть (ru) pf ( probudítʹ )
Spanish: despertar (es)
Swedish: väcka (sv)
Walloon: dispierter (wa) , rewoeyî (wa)
intransitive: to stop sleeping
Arabic: صَحَى ( ṣaḥā ) , اِسْتَيَقَظَ (ar) ( istayaqaẓa )
Moroccan Arabic: فاق ( fāq )
Armenian: զարթնել (hy) ( zartʻnel ) , արթնանալ (hy) ( artʻnanal )
Chinese:
Mandarin: 醒 (zh) ( xǐng ) , 醒來 / 醒来 (zh) ( xǐnglái ) , 醒来 (zh) ( xǐnglái )
Danish: vågne (da)
Dutch: zich opwekken , wakker worden (nl)
Finnish: herätä (fi)
French: se réveiller (fr)
Georgian: გაღვიძება ( gaɣviʒeba ) , გამოღვიძება ( gamoɣviʒeba )
German: aufwachen (de) , erwachen (de) , wach werden
Greek:
Ancient: ἐγείρομαι ( egeíromai )
(deprecated template usage ) {{trans-mid }}
Hungarian: ébred (hu) , felébred (hu)
Italian: svegliarsi (it)
Japanese: 起きる (ja) ( おきる, okiru ) , 目覚める ( めざめる, mezameru ) , 目を覚ます ( めをさます, me o samasu )
Latin: expergiscor , excitor , exsuscito
Maltese: qam
Norwegian:
Bokmål: våkne (no)
Persian: بیدار شدن (fa) ( bidâr šodan )
Portuguese: acordar (pt) , despertar (pt)
Russian: просыпа́ться (ru) impf ( prosypátʹsja ) , просну́ться (ru) pf ( prosnútʹsja ) , пробужда́ться (ru) impf ( probuždátʹsja ) , пробуди́ться (ru) pf ( probudítʹsja )
Scottish Gaelic: dùisg
Spanish: despertarse (es)
Swedish: vakna (sv) , vakna upp (sv)
Walloon: si dispierter (wa) , si rewoeyî (wa)
transitive: to cause to become conscious