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Glite Dictionary
Whitsunday

Whitsunday

9.8
Seventh Sunday after Easter when Christians celebrate the Holy Spirit coming and a traditional Scottish day for rent and hiring
  • noun
  • /ˈwɪt.sʌn.deɪ/
  • UK
translation icon : Pentecostés
  • GREAT FESTIVALS: CHRISTMAS, EASTER, AND WHITSUNDAY
  • Whitsunday Islands

Examples

  • Many Christians attend church services on Whitsunday to commemorate the arrival of the Holy Spirit.

  • Tacky's Revolt in St. Mary's parish in Jamaica began in the evening on Easter day in 1760, with a further outbreak in Westmoreland on Whitsunday.

    Academic text (2007)

  • For example, a one-day trip to the Great Barrier Reef can cost $170 USD, while two nights sailing the Whitsunday Islands can cost upward of $400.

    Blog text (20)

  • In Scotland, Whitsunday is a traditional day for settling rents and hiring agricultural laborers.

  • During Whitsunday, the church celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles.

Synonyms

Pentecost
vsWhitsunday
7 9.2

A Christian festival fifty days after Easter that celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit

is the same festival but also serves as a Scottish hiring and rent day

Surface Forms

Whitsunday singular
Whitsundays plural

Morphology

Whitsunday = Whitsun + day (opaque) = whitsun + day

Although formed from elements corresponding to 'Whitsun' and 'day', the specific religious meaning 'Pentecost' is not derivable by an average learner from the components.

Etymology

Whitsunday comes from the old phrase White Sunday, because people once wore white robes at the baptisms held on Pentecost. So Whitsunday is the same festival as Pentecost today, and in Scotland it later became a traditional day for paying rent and hiring workers.