Whitsunday

See also: Whit Sunday

English

Alternative forms

Whit Sunday

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/

Noun

Whitsunday (plural Whitsundays)

The Sunday of the feast of Pentecost, seven weeks after Easter
- 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.
(Scotland) A quarter day, falling on 15th May

Derived terms

Whitsun
Whitsunday Islands

Translations

the Sunday of the feast of Pentecost

Albanian: rshajë f, rrëshajë (sq) f
Armenian: Հոգեգալուստ (Hogegalust)
Bulgarian: петдесе́тница f (petdesétnica)
Catalan: Pentecosta f
Chinese:
Cantonese: 五旬節, 五旬节 (ng⁵ ceon⁴ zit³), 聖靈降臨節, 圣灵降临节 (sing³ ling⁴ gong³ lam⁴ zit³)
Hakka: 五旬節, 五旬节 (Ńg-sùn-chiet)
Mandarin: 五旬節／五旬节 (zh), 五旬节 (zh) (Wǔxúnjié), 收割節／收割节, 收割节 (Shōugējié), 聖靈降臨節／圣灵降临节, 圣灵降临节 (Shènglíng Jiànglín jié)
Min Nan: 五旬節, 五旬节 (Gō͘-sûn-choeh, Gō͘-sûn-cheh)
Czech: letnice (cs) f pl, Svatodušní svátky m pl
Danish: pinsedag c, pinse (da) ?
Dutch: Pinksteren (nl) m
Esperanto: Pentekosto
Estonian: Nelipüha
Faroese: hvítusunnudagur m, hvítusunna f
Finnish: helluntai (fi), helluntaipäivä
French: Pentecôte (fr) f
Frisian:
West Frisian: Pinkster
Georgian: სულთმოფენობა (sultmopenoba)
German: Pfingstsonntag (de) m, Pfingsten (de) n, Pfingstfest (de) n, Pfingsttag (de) m
Greek: Πεντηκοστή (el) f (Pentikostí)
Ancient: Πεντηκοστή f (Pentēkostḗ)
Hungarian: pünkösdvasárnap (hu), pünkösd (hu)
Indonesian: pentakosta
Irish: Cincís f
Italian: Pentecoste (it) f
Icelandic: Hvítasunnudagur m, hvítasunna f
Japanese: ペンテコステ (Pentekosuto), 聖霊降臨 (せいれいこうりん, seirei kōrin), 聖霊降臨祭 (せいれいこうりんさい, seirei kōrin sai)
Latvian: Vasarsvētki
Lithuanian: Sekminės
Macedonian: Ду́ховден m (Dúhovden), Ду́овден m (Dúovden), Педесе́тница f (Pedesétnica)
Maltese: Għid il-Ħamsin
Maori: Petekoha
Norman: Pentecôte f
Norwegian:
Norwegian Bokmål: pinse (no) m or f
Norwegian Nynorsk: pins m or f, pinse m or f
Plautdietsch: Pinjstdach m
Polish: Pięćdziesiątnica (pl) f, Zesłanie Ducha Świętego (pl) n, Zielone Świątki (pl) m inan pl, Zielone Święta nvir
Portuguese: Pentecostes (pt) m, Pentecoste (pt) m
Romanian: rusalii f pl, cincizecime f, Rusalii (ro) f pl
Russian: Тро́ица (ru) f (Tróica), Тро́ицын день m (Tróicyn denʹ), пятидеся́тница (ru) f (pjatidesjátnica), день Свято́й Тро́ицы m (denʹ Svjatój Tróicy)
Scottish Gaelic: a' Chaingis f
Slovak: Turíce f pl, Svätodušné sviatky f pl
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: swětki pl
Upper Sorbian: [Term?]
Spanish: Pentecostés (es)
Swedish: pingst (sv) c, pingstdagen c
Tagalog: Pentekostes
Turkish: Hamsin Yortusu, Pankot, Pentekost (tr), Pentikost
Volapük: pint (vo)
Welsh: Sulgwyn m, Pentecost m
Westrobothnian: peinnesj m

a quarter day, falling on 15th May