Whitsun (Noun)
Meaning
Christian holiday; the week beginning on Whitsunday (especially the first 3 days).
Classification
Nouns denoting time and temporal relations.
Examples
- Whitsun is a significant holiday in the Christian calendar, celebrate with feasts, processions, and much merriment in medieval times.
- Many Christians observe the week leading up to Whitsunday with special devotionals, prayer, and preparation for the holy feast day.
- In the 17th century, the English would often use the term Whitsun to refer to the full week of festivities after Whitsunday.
- The early 19th-century Oxfordshire tradition stated that if it rains on Whitsunday, there will be 40 more rainy days of Whitsun.
- Whitsun has been the term the locals of Cornwall would still refer to and use for the entire week starting on Whitsunday and officially marked as a major saint day celebration of Easter season.