Standard Lemma guide

Whitsun

adj · noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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wĭtʹsən
hwĭtʹsən
/ˈwɪt.sən/
/ˈʍɪt.sən/
Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

adj

Meaning 1

Of, or relating to Whitsunday or Whitsuntide

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

noun

Meaning 2

Whitsunday.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

1909, Sidney Heath, Romance of Symbolism: Fonts and the symbols of baptism - The times [for baptism] of which Whitsun Eve is one, are specified by ... the constitutions for Orthobon for England, Gerona, 517, c. iv.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

noun

Meaning 3

The holiday beginning on Whitsunday.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

1978, Peter Bailey, Leisure and class in Victorian England: Rational recreation and the contest for control, quoting "a British observation from early 20th century", read in Orvar Löfgren, On Holiday: A History of Vacationing (2002) - The excursion train used to vomit forth, at Easter and in Whitsun week, throngs of millhands of the period, cads and their flames, tawdry, blowsy, noisy, drunken.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Whitweek, Whitsuntide, Pentecost

Antonyms: none provided

noun

Meaning 4

Christian holiday; the week beginning on Whitsunday (especially the first 3 days)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Whitsuntide, Whitweek

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: season

History

Etymology

Apocopic form of Whitsunday.

Word forms

Inflections and variants

Whitsuns — plural

Word family

Derived and related words

Derived: Whitsun Monday, Whitsun term, Whitsun Tuesday

Related: none provided

Semantic map

Other relationships

Hypernyms: season

Holonyms: church calendar, ecclesiastical calendar

Meronyms: Pentecost, Whitsunday, Whitmonday, Whitsun Monday, Whit-Tuesday, Whitsun Tuesday

Sources

Where this information comes from

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Changes made: Wiktionary markup was removed and matching senses were grouped; WordNet and CMUdict evidence was merged into the canonical word page. Source quotations with separate cited works are not republished.

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Real reading context

Meaning relationships

Examples

Meaning relationships

Examples

Meaning relationships

Meaning relationships

Whitsun in complete knowledge articles