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)

1. 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.

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

Derived terms

• Whitsun
• Whitsunday Islands

Translations

the Sunday of the feast of Pentecost

• Afrikaans: Pinkstersondag
• 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)

  Hokkien: 五旬節／五旬节 (Gō͘-sûn-choeh, Gō͘-sûn-cheh)

  Mandarin: 五旬節／五旬节 (zh) (Wǔxúnjié), 收割節／收割节 (Shōugējié), 聖靈降臨節／圣灵降临节 (Shènglíng Jiànglín jié)

• Czech: letnice (cs) f pl, Svatodušní svátky m pl
• Danish: pinsedag c, pinse (da) c
• 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)
• Icelandic: Hvítasunnudagur m, hvítasunna f
• Indonesian: pentakosta
• Ingrian: Troitsa
• Irish: Cincís f, Domhnach na Cincíse m
• Italian: Pentecoste (it) 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 (ja) (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)
• Malayalam: പെന്തക്കൊസ്താ (pentakkostā)
• 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
• Ukrainian: День Святої Трійці m (Denʹ Svjatoji Trijci), П'ятдеся́тниця f (Pʺjatdesjátnycja), День Зісла́ння Свято́го Ду́ха f (Denʹ Zislánnja Svjatóho Dúxa), Зеле́на неді́ля f (Zeléna nedílja)
• Volapük: pint (vo)
• Welsh: Sulgwyn m, Pentecost m

a quarter day, falling on 15th May

Proper noun

Whitsunday

1. Whitsunday Region, a local government area in northern Queensland, Australia.