Whitsunday

[ hwit-suhn-dey, -dee, wit-; hwit-suh n-dey, wit- ]

/ ˈʰwɪtˈsʌn deɪ, -di, ˈwɪt-; ˈʰwɪt sənˌdeɪ, ˈwɪt- /

noun

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

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for whitsunday

I must, therefore, fairly warn you to remove from my house at Whitsunday.
Life and Correspondence of David Hume, Volume II (of 2)|John Hill Burton
The tower was nearly four years in building, and was dedicated on Whitsunday 1868.
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Manchester|Thomas Perkins
And yet, since Whitsunday is but a few days away, that should be no hard matter.
In the Court of King Arthur|Samuel Lowe
It was the feast of Whitsunday, which probably brought a greater throng than usual abroad.
Passages From the French and Italian Notebooks, Volume 1|Nathaniel Hawthorne

Cape Gloucester was reached in about three hours after we had issued from the Whitsunday Passage.
The Last Voyage|Lady (Annie Allnutt) Brassey

British Dictionary definitions for whitsunday

Whitsunday

/ (ˌhwɪtˈsʌndɪ, ˌwɪt-) /

noun

(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

Word Origin and History for whitsunday

Whitsunday

"Pentecost," late Old English Hwita Sunnandæg "white Sunday," possibly from the white baptismal robes worn by newly baptized Christians on this day.