waking up just before daybreak
Archaic noun describing the act of rising very early, just before dawn. Not used in modern everyday speech; encountered mainly in classical literature or historical contexts.
People in the old days made a habit of waking up just before daybreak.
Compound of 暁 (あかつき, 'dawn, daybreak') and 起き (おき, 'waking, getting up'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the word follows a straightforward noun-compounding pattern.