*H₂éwsōs
*H₂éwsōs or *Haéusōs (PIE: lit. 'the dawn') is the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European name of the dawn goddess in the Proto-Indo-European mythology. *H₂éwsōs is believed to have been one of the most important deities worshipped by Proto-Indo-European speakers due to the consistency of her characterization in subsequent traditions as well as the importance of the goddess Uṣas in the Rigveda. Her attributes have not only been mixed with those of solar goddesses in some later traditions, most notably the Baltic sun-deity Saulė, but have subsequently expanded and influenced female deities in other mythologies. Name Etymology The reconstructed Proto-Indo-European name of the dawn, *h₂éwsōs, derives the verbal root *h₂(e)wes- ('to shine, glow red; a flame') extended by the suffix -ós-. The same root also underlies the word for 'gold', *h₂ews-om (lit. 'glow'), inherited in Latin aurum, Old Prussian ausis, and Lithuanian áuksas. The word for the dawn as a meteorological event has also been preserved in Balto-Slavic *auṣ(t)ro (cf. Lith. aušrà 'dawn, morning light', PSlav. *ȕtro 'morning, dawn', OCS za ustra 'in the morning'), in Sanskrit uṣar ('dawn'), or in Ancient Greek αὔριον ('tomorrow'). A derivative adverb, *h₂ews-teros, meaning 'east' (lit. 'toward the dawn'), is reflected in Latvian àustrums ('east'), Avestan ušatara ('east'),