first light
When night ends
First light is the earliest appearance of daylight, the dim glow before sunrise when the sky begins to brighten: We set out at first light.
Military operations often launch at first light for tactical advantage.
The term is more evocative than "dawn" or "daybreak," suggesting the very first visible traces of day.
Morning light's arrival
- daybreakMorning's first light
- dayspringPoetic term for sunrise
- auroraAtmospheric light display
- twilightLight after sunset
crepuscule · horizon · glow · glimmer · radiance · streaks · rosy · golden
Point of creation
- inceptionFounding moment
- commencementAct of starting
- outsetInitial point of something
- originStarting point or source
threshold · advent · birth · emergence · starting point · opening · onset · infancy
Arousing strong emotion
- rousingExciting strong feeling
- wakingRegaining consciousness from sleep
- consciousnessState of sentient awareness
- awarenessState of perceiving reality
realization · enlightenment · epiphany · insight · revelation · satori · recognition · alertness
Warm-lit period near sunset
- magic hourSoft light after sunrise/before sunset
- diffusedSpread widely around
- warm tonesHues suggesting heat
- silhouetteFilled-in outline shape
backlit · shoot · exposure · shadows · contrast · landscape · portrait
sunrise
Morning light's arrival
twilight · crepuscule · horizon · glow · glimmer · radiance · streaks · rosy · golden · eastern
genesis
Point of creation
- inceptionFounding moment
- commencementAct of starting
- outsetInitial point of something
origin · threshold · advent · birth · emergence · starting point · opening · onset · infancy · dawning
stirring
Arousing strong emotion
- rousingExciting strong feeling
- wakingRegaining consciousness from sleep
- consciousnessState of sentient awareness
awareness · realization · enlightenment · epiphany · insight · revelation · satori · recognition · alertness · understanding
golden hour
Warm-lit period near sunset
- magic hourSoft light after sunrise/before sunset
- diffusedSpread widely around
- warm tonesHues suggesting heat
silhouette · backlit · shoot · exposure · shadows · contrast · landscape · portrait
- firstsinitial, beginning, start, opening, original
- morningmorning, sunrise, daybreak, dawn, mid-morning
- daypartsdawn, sunrise, morning, forenoon, midmorning
- dim lighttwilight, dusk, gloaming, semidarkness, dimness
- originsbeginning, birth, creation, source, roots
- sunrise/sunsetdawn, dusk, twilight, daybreak, nightfall
first lightdead of night
Darkest part of evening
pitch black · blackness · pitch darkness · pitch dark · midnight
light, first, first-rate, firstly, firsthand, first-class, firstborn, firsts, firstborns