beacon

See also: Beacon

English

Etymology

From Middle English beken, from Old English bēacn (“sign, signal”), 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- (“to shine”).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

beacon (plural beacons)

1. A signal fire to notify of the approach of an enemy, or to give any notice, commonly of warning.
   • Gay

     No flaming beacons cast their blaze afar.

2. (nautical) A signal or conspicuous mark erected on an eminence near the shore, or moored in shoal water, as a guide to mariners.
   1. A post or buoy placed over a shoal or bank to warn vessels of danger; also a signal mark on land. (FM 55-501)
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.
   • Shakespeare

     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.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• aerobeacon
• day beacon

• radio beacon
• web beacon

Translations

signal fire

• Arabic: فَنَار m (fanār)
• Bulgarian: сигнален огън (signalen ogǎn)
• Chinese: 烽 (zh) (fēng), 狼烟 (zh) (láng yān)
• Dutch: baken (nl) n, bakenvuur n
• Finnish: merkkituli (fi)
• French: balise (fr)
• Galician: facho (gl) m, brandariz m
• German: Leuchtfeuer (de)
• Greek:

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

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hebrew: משואה (he)
• Hungarian: jelzőtűz (hu)
• Japanese: かがり火 (かがりび, kagaribi)
• Maori: ramaroa
• Portuguese: almenara (pt) f
• Russian: сигна́льный ого́нь m (signálʹnyj ogónʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: signalna vatra f
• Spanish: baliza (es) f, almenara (es) f
• Swedish: vårdkase (sv), böte (sv) (used in Finland and in eastern Sweden)
• Turkish: fener (tr)

signaling or guiding mark erected as guide to mariners

• Arabic: مَنَار m (manār)
• Dutch: baken (nl) n
• Finnish: merimerkki (fi), viitta (fi), loisto (fi)
• French: phare (fr) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Galician: balisma f, mallón m
• Interlingue:
• Italian: faro (it) m, radiofaro (it) m
• Portuguese: farol (pt) m
• Russian: маяк (ru) m (majak) (stationary), бакен (ru) m (baken) (floating)
• Spanish: almenara (es) f

high hill or similar

• Dutch: baken (nl) n
• Finnish: maamerkki (fi)
• French: amer (fr) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Galician: curuto m, cruto m
• German: Bake (de) f
• Italian: punto cospicuo m
• Spanish: cúspide (es) f, punto conspicuo m

that which warns

• Bulgarian: предупреждение (bg) (predupreždenie)
• Finnish: varoitin
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: предупрежде́ние (ru) n (predupreždénije)
• Serbo-Croatian: upozorenje (sh)

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.
   • Campbell

     That beacons the darkness of heaven.

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

Related terms

• beckon