Meanings
nounWhitsunday (plural Whitsundays)
plural Whitsundays
- ChristianityThe Sunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls, seven weeks after Easter.
Holonyms: Pentecost (season), Whitsun, Whitsuntide, Whit
2 more examples
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.
1773, John Byrom, “On Whitsunday”, in Miscellaneous PoemsAn older name for this day [Pentecost] is Whitsunday, or “white Sunday,” named for the white garments worn by the newly baptised.
2004, Vicki K Black, Welcome to the Church Year: An Introduction to the Seasons of the Episcopal ChurchSynonyms: Whitsun, Whit, Pentecost, Pentecost Sunday
- ScotlandA quarter day falling on 15th May.
proper noun
- A local government area in northern Queensland, Australia; in full, Whitsunday Region.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe Sunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls, seven weeks after Easter.
More synonyms by meaning
nounseventh Sunday after Easter; commemorates the emanation of the Holy Spirit to the Apostles; a quarter day in Scotland
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Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishhwīt sunnandæg
- Middle EnglishWhitsonday
- EnglishWhitsunday
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.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans Pinkstersondag
- PinkstersondagSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Ancient Greek Πεντηκοστή
- Πεντηκοστή (Pentēkostḗ)Sunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Bulgarian петдесе́тница
- петдесе́тница (petdesétnica)Sunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Catalan Pentecosta, Pasqua Granada
- PentecostaSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- Pasqua GranadaSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Chinese Cantonese 五旬節 /五旬节, 聖靈降臨節 /圣灵降临节
- 五旬節 /五旬节 (ng⁵ ceon⁴ zit³)Sunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- 聖靈降臨節 /圣灵降临节 (sing³ ling⁴ gong³ lam⁴ zit³)Sunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Chinese Mandarin 五旬節 /五旬节, 收割節 /收割节
- 五旬節 /五旬节 (Wǔxúnjié)Sunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- 收割節 /收割节 (Shōugējié)Sunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- 聖靈降臨節 /圣灵降临节 (Shènglíng Jiànglín jié)Sunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Czech letnice, Svatodušní svátky
- letniceSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- Svatodušní svátkySunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Danish pinsedag, pinse
- pinsedagSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- pinseSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Dutch Pinksteren
- PinksterenSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Esperanto Pentekosto
- PentekostoSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Estonian Nelipüha
- NelipühaSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Finnish helluntai, helluntaipäivä
- helluntaiSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- helluntaipäiväSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
French Pentecôte
- PentecôteSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
German Pfingstsonntag, Pfingsten
- PfingstsonntagSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- PfingstenSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- PfingstfestSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- PfingsttagSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Greek Πεντηκοστή
- Πεντηκοστή (Pentikostí)Sunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Hungarian pünkösdvasárnap, pünkösd
- pünkösdvasárnapSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- pünkösdSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Icelandic Hvítasunnudagur, hvítasunna
- HvítasunnudagurSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- hvítasunnaSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Indonesian pentakosta
- pentakostaSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Irish Cincís, Domhnach na Cincíse
- CincísSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- Domhnach na CincíseSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Italian Pentecoste
- PentecosteSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Japanese ペンテコステ, 聖霊降臨
- ペンテコステ (Pentekosuto)Sunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- 聖霊降臨 (seirei kōrin)Sunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- 聖霊降臨祭 (seirei kōrin sai)Sunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Latvian Vasarsvētki
- VasarsvētkiSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Lithuanian Sekminės
- SekminėsSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Māori Petekoha
- PetekohaSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Norwegian Bokmål pinse
- pinseSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Polish Pięćdziesiątnica, Zesłanie Ducha Świętego
- PięćdziesiątnicaSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- Zesłanie Ducha ŚwiętegoSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- Zielone ŚwiątkiSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- Zielone ŚwiętaSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- dzień kwartalnyquarter day falling on 15th May
- suchy dzieńquarter day falling on 15th May
Portuguese Pentecostes, Pentecoste
- PentecostesSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- PentecosteSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Romanian rusalii, cincizecime
- rusaliiSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- cincizecimeSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- RusaliiSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Russian Тро́ица, Тро́ицын день
- Тро́ица (Tróica)Sunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- Тро́ицын день (Tróicyn denʹ)Sunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- пятидеся́тница (pjatidesjátnica)Sunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- день Свято́й Тро́ицы (denʹ Svjatój Tróicy)Sunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Scottish Gaelic a' Chaingis
- a' ChaingisSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Slovak Turíce, Svätodušné sviatky
- TuríceSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- Svätodušné sviatkySunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Spanish Pentecostés
- PentecostésSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Swedish pingstdag
- pingstdagSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Tagalog Pentekostes
- PentekostesSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Turkish Hamsin Yortusu, Pankot
- Hamsin YortusuSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- PankotSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- PentekostSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- PentikostSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Ukrainian День Святої Трійці, П'ятдеся́тниця
- День Святої Трійці (Denʹ Svjatoji Trijci)Sunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- П'ятдеся́тниця (Pʺjatdesjátnycja)Sunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- День Зісла́ння Свято́го Ду́ха (Denʹ Zislánnja Svjatóho Dúxa)Sunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- Зеле́на неді́ля (Zeléna nedílja)Sunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- Трійця (Trijcja)Sunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Welsh Sulgwyn, Pentecost
- SulgwynSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
- PentecostSunday on which the feast or festival of Pentecost falls
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with Whitsunday
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
Whitsunday. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Whitsunday
MLA
“Whitsunday.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Whitsunday. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Whitsunday,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Whitsunday.
Source: Whitsunday on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.