Etymology

Whitsunday

Whit·sun·day
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Today it means: The Sunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls, seven weeks after Easter. Full definition →

Middle English Whitsonday ← Old English hwīt sunnandæg
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The story

  1. Old English · inherited fromhwīt sunnandæg
  2. Middle English · inherited fromWhitsonday
  3. English todayWhitsunday

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.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.