夜明け
よあけ · yoake · JLPT N3 · noun
dawn
🌅 夜明け = night (夜 yo) + opening (明け ake): the night opens into day
明け comes from the verb 明ける (akeru), meaning to grow light or to end, as in 年明け (start of the new year). So 夜明け is literally the night ending, which is daybreak.
夜 — 亠 lid + 亻 person + 夕 evening moon
夜 originally depicted a person (亻) under a roof (亠) with the moon (夕) beside them, evoking nighttime rest. The moon component 夕 carries the meaning of evening, while the surrounding elements set the scene of a person at night. Over time it came to mean 'night' in general.