Whitsun

English

Etymology

Apocopic form of Whitsunday.

Pronunciation

• enPR: hwĭtʹsən, IPA^(key): /ˈʍɪt.sən/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

Whitsun (plural Whitsuns)

1. Whitsunday
   • 1909, Sidney Heath, Romance of Symbolism: Fonts and the symbols of baptism - The times [for baptism] of which Whitsun Eve is one, are specified by ... the constitutions for Orthobon for England, Gerona, 517, c. iv.
2. The holiday beginning on Whitsunday
   • 1978, Peter Bailey, Leisure and class in Victorian England: Rational recreation and the contest for control, quoting "a British observation from early 20th century", read in Orvar Löfgren, On Holiday: A History of Vacationing (2002) - The excursion train used to vomit forth, at Easter and in Whitsun week, throngs of millhands of the period, cads and their flames, tawdry, blowsy, noisy, drunken.

Synonyms

• Whitsuntide
• Whitweek
• Pentecost

Translations

Whitsunday — see Whitsunday

Adjective

Whitsun (not comparable)

1. Of, or relating to Whitsunday or Whitsuntide

Anagrams

• Swithun