Pentecost
a Christian festival celebrated on the seventh Sunday after Easter, commemorating the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the apostles; Whitsunday.
Origin of Pentecost
1Words Nearby Pentecost
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use Pentecost in a sentence
According to the Bible’s Acts of the Apostles, on the Pentecost – the Jewish Shavuot harvest festival 50 days after Passover – the Holy Spirit came down in the form of flames over the disciples’ heads.
This man had often escaped drowning, and only recently upon the blessed day of last Pentecost.
Fifty days later was the feast of Pentecost at which time occurred those wonderful events recorded in the second chapter of Acts.
Gospel Philosophy | J. H. WardAnd we see the mighty change that was wrought in the disciples when the outpouring of the Spirit actually took place at Pentecost.
Separation and Service | James Hudson TaylorOne of the wealthiest ladies of the church received her Pentecost and is now one of our best workers.
Prisons and Prayer: Or a Labor of Love | Elizabeth Ryder Wheaton
The bride, a girl of about twelve years, was brought to Posen by her parents-in-law at the feast of Pentecost.
Solomon Maimon: An Autobiography. | Solomon Maimon
British Dictionary definitions for Pentecost
/ (ˈpɛntɪˌkɒst) /
a Christian festival occurring on Whit Sunday commemorating the descent of the Holy Ghost on the apostles
Also called: Feast of Weeks, Shavuot Judaism the harvest festival celebrated fifty days after the second day of Passover on the sixth and seventh days of Sivan, and commemorating the giving the Torah on Mount Sinai
Origin of Pentecost
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for Pentecost
In the New Testament, the day that the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples of Jesus. Pentecost is the Greek name for Shavuot, the spring harvest festival of the Israelites, which was going on when the Holy Spirit came. The disciples were together in Jerusalem (see also Jerusalem) after Jesus' Resurrection and return to heaven, fearful because he had left them. On that morning, however, “there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Because of the festival, crowds of visitors were in Jerusalem, speaking many languages, but the disciples of Jesus moved among them and spoke to them all, and “every man heard them speak in his own language” about “the wonderful works of God.” Peter then made a powerful speech to the crowds in the city, and many were baptized as new followers of Jesus.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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