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Whitsunday

American  
[hwit-suhn-dey, -dee, wit-, hwit-suhn-dey, wit-] / ˈʰwɪtˈsʌn deɪ, -di, ˈwɪt-, ˈʰwɪt sənˌdeɪ, ˈwɪt- /

noun

  1. the seventh Sunday after Easter, celebrated as a festival in commemoration of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.


Whitsunday British  
/ ˌwɪt-, ˌhwɪtˈsʌndɪ /

noun

  1. (in Scotland) May 15, one of the four quarter days

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of Whitsunday

before 1100; Middle English whitsonenday, Old English Hwīta Sunnandæg white Sunday; probably so called because the newly baptized wore white robes on that day

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Australia’s fleet of more than 40 European-designed Taipans has been grounded since July 28 when one crashed into the Pacific Ocean during a nighttime training operation in the Whitsunday Islands off the northeast Australian coast.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 28, 2023

And on the mainland, on the outskirts of Proserpine, her Whitsunday Gold coffee plantation had its main residence destroyed, as well as coffee and sugar crops.

From The Guardian • Mar. 31, 2017

“Debbie is a very large, slow-moving system,” said John Fowler, a spokesman for Ergon Energy, noting that 48,000 customers were without power in the Bowen, Whitsunday and Mackay areas.

From New York Times • Mar. 28, 2017

She was snorkelling near the Whitsunday Islands off the coast of Queensland in eastern Australia when the attack happened.

From BBC • Feb. 14, 2010

Not long afterwards Whitsunday also came to be fixed in the usage of Christendom as a great annual festival.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 2 "Fairbanks, Erastus" to "Fens" by Various