Beacon

beacon.
1. Normally a stake surmounted by a distinctive topmark erected over a shoal or sandbank. In many coastal estuaries without important shipping the low water level is marked by local beacons, often withies.

2. A prominent erection on shore that indicates a safe line of approach to a harbour or a safe passage clear of an obstruction. With the widespread use of GPS, sea traffic has tended to sail closer inshore by night so that there is an increasing demand for lit beacons. For radar beacons see racon; ramark.

See also EPIRB; radio beacon.

bea·con / ˈbēkən/ • n. a fire or light set up in a high or prominent position as a warning, signal, or celebration: a chain of beacons carried the news fig. the prospect of a new government was a beacon of hope for millions. ∎  a light or other visible object serving as a signal, warning, or guide, esp. at sea or on an airfield. ∎  a radio transmitter whose signal helps to fix the position of a ship, aircraft, or spacecraft.

beacon the maintenance of a chain of beacons as a warning signal was one of the means of national defence against a possible Spanish invasion in late 16th-century England. From this, beacon came to mean a conspicuous hill suitable for the site of a signal fire (frequently occurring in place-names, as Brecon Beacons, Dunkery Beacon).

Recorded from Old English (in form bēacn) meaning ‘sign, portent’, the word is of West Germanic origin and is related to beckon.