Whitsunday

See also: Whit Sunday

English

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English Whitsonday, from whit (“white”) +‎ Sonday (“Sunday”), from Old English hwīt sunnandæg, probably from the white clothes worn by newly baptized Christians as Pentecost was a traditional date of baptism in early medieval England. Doublet of White Sunday.

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /wɪtˈsʌndeɪ/, /ʍ-/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /wɪtˈsʌndeɪ/, /wɪtˈsʌndi/, /ʍ-/
  • (obsolete) IPA(key): /ˈʍɪtsəndeɪ/, /ˈʍɪtsəndɪ/
  • Rhymes: -ʌndeɪ
  • Hyphenation: Whit‧sun‧day

Noun

Whitsunday (plural Whitsundays)

  1. (Christianity) The Sunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls, seven weeks after Easter.
    Synonyms: Pentecost, Whitsun
    • 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.

Alternative forms

Derived terms

Translations

Proper noun

Whitsunday

  1. A local government area in northern Queensland, Australia; in full, Whitsunday Region.
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.