aurore

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dawn, daybreak, aurora, polar lights, beginning
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/oʁɔʁ/
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The first light before sunrise, extended to polar lights, beginnings, a spring butterfly, and a dawn-colored shade.

Examples

  • Le peintre a connu l'aurore de sa renommée à Paris.
    The painter met the dawn of his fame in Paris.
  • La chenille de l'aurore se nourrit de plantes crucifères.
    The orange-tip caterpillar feeds on cruciferous plants.
  • Elle aime photographier l'aurore au-dessus du lac.
    She likes photographing the dawn above the lake.
  • L'aurore du mouvement a surpris les observateurs.
    The dawn of the movement surprised observers.
  • Le discours promettait l'aurore d'une société plus juste.
    The speech promised the dawn of a fairer society.

Similar words

aurore polaire
piéride de l'aurore
aurore australe
naissance
phénomène auroral
début
couleur aurore
émergence
petit matin
papillon aurore

Meanings

First light of day

noun
everyday
neutral
The pale light and brief time around daybreak, just before or as the sun begins to rise.

Examples

  • Chaque matin, l'aurore colore les collines.
    Each morning, the dawn colors the hills.
  • Les pêcheurs sont partis avant l'aurore.
    The fishermen left before dawn.
  • Une brume légère flottait encore à l'aurore.
    A light mist was still floating at dawn.
  • Le village s'est éveillé dans la fraîcheur de l'aurore.
    The village woke in the freshness of dawn.
  • Elle aime photographier l'aurore au-dessus du lac.
    She likes photographing the dawn above the lake.
  • Le ciel de l'aurore passait du gris au rose.
    The dawn sky shifted from gray to pink.
  • Nous avons repris la route dès l'aurore.
    We set out again at dawn.

Similar words

Polar light display

noun
science
technical
A natural glow in polar skies, formed when charged particles from the Sun interact with the upper atmosphere.

Examples

  • Une aurore boréale a illuminé le ciel d'Islande.
    A spectacular northern aurora lit the Icelandic sky.
  • Les chercheurs suivent l'aurore australe depuis la base polaire.
    Researchers track the southern aurora from the polar base.
  • La tempête solaire peut rendre l'aurore visible plus au sud.
    The solar storm can make the aurora visible farther south.
  • Des rideaux verts formaient une aurore au-dessus du fjord.
    Green curtains formed an aurora above the fjord.
  • Le guide a expliqué comment naît une aurore polaire.
    The guide explained how a polar aurora forms.
  • Les photographes attendaient l'aurore toute la nuit.
    The photographers waited for the aurora all night.
  • Cette aurore rouge annonçait une forte activité géomagnétique.
    This red aurora signaled strong geomagnetic activity.

Similar words

Beginning of something

noun
literary
literary
The first stage or early promise of an age, career, movement, or feeling.

Examples

  • Le discours promettait l'aurore d'une société plus juste.
    The speech promised the dawn of a fairer society.
  • À l'aurore de sa carrière, elle hésitait encore.
    At the dawn of her career, she was still unsure.
  • Le roman décrit l'aurore d'un amour fragile.
    The novel describes the dawn of a fragile love.
  • Ils voyaient dans cette réforme l'aurore d'une ère nouvelle.
    They saw the dawn of a new era in this reform.
  • L'aurore du mouvement a surpris les observateurs.
    The dawn of the movement surprised observers.
  • Ce laboratoire se trouvait à l'aurore de la médecine moderne.
    This laboratory stood at the dawn of modern medicine.
  • Le peintre a connu l'aurore de sa renommée à Paris.
    The painter met the dawn of his fame in Paris.

Similar words

Orange-tip butterfly

noun
nature
neutral
A small white pierid butterfly, especially the spring species whose male has orange markings on the forewings.

Examples

  • L'aurore vole souvent près des cardamines au printemps.
    The orange-tip often flies near cuckoo flowers in spring.
  • Le mâle de l'aurore porte une tache orangée très visible.
    The male orange-tip has a very visible orange patch.
  • Nous avons observé une aurore dans la prairie humide.
    We observed an orange-tip in the wet meadow.
  • La chenille de l'aurore se nourrit de plantes crucifères.
    The orange-tip caterpillar feeds on cruciferous plants.
  • Cette aurore s'est posée sur une fleur blanche.
    This orange-tip landed on a white flower.
  • Les naturalistes notent la première aurore de la saison.
    Naturalists record the first orange-tip of the season.
  • L'aurore appartient à la famille des piérides.
    The orange-tip belongs to the pierid family.

Similar words

Dawn-colored shade

adjective
color
neutral
A golden yellow, orange, or pinkish color reminiscent of light at daybreak.

Examples

  • Elle portait une écharpe aurore en soie.
    She wore a dawn-colored silk scarf.
  • Le décorateur a choisi des rideaux aurore pour la salle.
    The decorator chose dawn-colored curtains for the room.
  • Des reflets aurore réchauffaient le tissu.
    Dawn-colored reflections warmed the fabric.
  • La robe aurore attirait la lumière du matin.
    The dawn-colored dress caught the morning light.
  • On servait les oeufs avec une sauce aurore.
    The eggs were served with aurora sauce.
  • Le peintre mélange un jaune doré pour obtenir un ton aurore.
    The painter mixes a golden yellow to obtain an aurore tone.
  • Les fleurs aurore se détachaient sur le feuillage sombre.
    The dawn-colored flowers stood out against the dark foliage.

Similar words

Etymology

From Latin aurora, meaning dawn, inherited through Old French forms related to the morning light and the Roman dawn goddess Aurora.

FAQ

What does aurore mean in French?

Aurore most often means dawn or the first light of day, and it can also mean a polar aurora, a beginning, a butterfly, or a dawn-colored shade.

Is aurore the same as aube?

They overlap, but aurore often stresses the first visible light or the poetic moment around daybreak, while aube is the broader word for dawn.

Can aurore mean the northern lights?

Yes. In aurore boréale or by short use, aurore names the polar light display caused by charged solar particles in the upper atmosphere.

How is aurore used figuratively?

It can name the beginning or first promise of something, especially in literary phrases such as l'aurore d'une ère nouvelle.

What is the butterfly sense of aurore?

In French natural history, aurore can name an orange-tip butterfly, especially the spring pierid with orange markings on the male.

What does aurore mean as a color word?

As an invariable adjective, aurore describes a golden, orange, or pinkish shade like the light of daybreak.

How do you pronounce aurore?

Aurore is pronounced /oʁɔʁ/ in standard French, with the final e silent.

Is sauce aurore a separate meaning of aurore?

Sauce aurore is a fixed culinary expression named for its pinkish dawn color, so it belongs with the color use rather than a separate bare-word sense.

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