Whitsunday

See also: Whit Sunday

English

Alternative forms

• Whit Sunday

Etymology

Contraction of white Sunday

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /wɪtˈsʌndeɪ/, /ʍ-/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /wɪtˈsʌndeɪ/, /wɪtˈsʌndi/, /ʍ-/
• (obsolete) IPA^(key): /ˈʍɪtsəndeɪ/, /ˈʍɪtsəndɪ/

Noun

Whitsunday (plural Whitsundays)

1. The Sunday of the feast of Pentecost, seven weeks after Easter, when traditionally many Christians would be baptised, wearing white clothes
   • 1773, John Byrom, "On Whitsunday" in Miscellaneous Poems:

     Jesus, ascended into Heav'n again/Bestow'd this won'drous Gift upon good Men/That various Nations, by his Spirit led,/All understood what Galileans said.

   • 2004, Vicki K Black, Welcome to the Church Year: An Introduction to the Seasons of the Episcopal Church:

     An older name for this day [Pentecost] is Whitsunday, or “white Sunday,” named for the white garments worn by the newly baptised.

2. (Scotland) A quarter day, falling on 15th May

Derived terms

• Whitsun
• Whitsunday Islands

Translations

the Sunday of the feast of Pentecost

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 聖靈降臨節, 圣灵降临节 (shènglíng-jiànglín-jié)

• Danish: pinsedag c
• Dutch: Pinksteren (nl) m
• Faroese: hvítusunnudagur m
• Finnish: helluntai (fi), helluntaipäivä
• French: Pentecôte (fr) f
• German: Pfingstsonntag (de) m

• Hungarian: pünkösdvasárnap (hu)
• Icelandic: Hvítasunnudagur m
• Japanese: 聖霊降臨祭 (せいれいこうりんさい, seirei kōrin sai)
• Maori: Petekoha
• Portuguese: Pentecostes (pt)
• Russian: Тро́ица (ru) f (Tróica), Тро́ицын день m (Tróicyn denʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: a' Chaingis f
• Swedish: pingstdagen c
• Welsh: Sulgwyn

a quarter day, falling on 15th May