As a noun, it means the time of sunrise. It's a bit more specific than just 'early morning'.
It can also be used more figuratively, such as 'the dawn of a new civilisation', meaning the start of it.
As a verb, 'dawn on' is a passive version of 'come to understand' - "it finally dawned on me that she didn't love me". "I'm just waiting for that fact to dawn on you".