What does "pentecost" mean?
(Judaism) Jewish holy day celebrated on the sixth of Sivan to celebrate Moses receiving the Ten Commandments
Pentecost
/ˈpɛntɪkɒst/ name
name ·Moderate ·College level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: (Judaism) Jewish holy day celebrated on the sixth of Sivan to celebrate Moses receiving the Ten Commandments
- Grammar: pentecost is listed as name.
- Nearest alternatives: feast of weeks, advent, allhallowmas, allhallows.
- Useful contrasts: ordinary day, pre Pentecost period, season before Pentecost.
- Usage evidence: The newly redeemed nation of Israel experienced Passover through Pentecost from leaving Egypt, their place of bondage, up to receiving the covenant from God at Sinai.
How to use "pentecost"
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Source and review context
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Definitions
Noun
- 1 (Judaism) Jewish holy day celebrated on the sixth of Sivan to celebrate Moses receiving the Ten Commandments wordnet
- 2 seventh Sunday after Easter; commemorates the emanation of the Holy Spirit to the Apostles; a quarter day in Scotland wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 Synonym of Shavuot (“a Jewish harvest festival which falls on the sixth day of Sivan in the spring, fifty days after the second day of the Passover when the omer (“sheaf of barley”) is offered; a ceremony held on that day to commemorate the giving of the Torah (“first five books of the Hebrew scriptures”) to Moses and the Israelites on Mount Sinai”). Judaism
"Novv vvhen I vvas come home againe, & my vvife Anna vvas reſtored vnto me vvith my ſonne Tobias, in the feaſt of Pentecoſte, vvhich is the holy feaſt of the ſeuen vvekes, there vvas a great dinner prepared me, in the vvhich I ſate dovvne to eat."
- 2 A festival which falls on the seventh Sunday after Easter which commemorates the event described in Acts 2 of the Bible when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles during the Jewish festival of Pentecost (proper noun sense 1), conferring on them the miraculous ability to explain the gospel in languages they did not know; also, the Sunday on which the festival is celebrated. broadly
"1. Capu[let]. […] [G]ood Cozin Capulet, / For you and I are paſt our dauncing dayes: / Hovv long iſt novv ſince laſt your ſelfe and I / VVere in a maske? / 2. Capu. Be'r [By our] lady thirtie yeares. / 1. Capu. VVhat man tis not ſo much, tis not ſo much, / Tis ſince the nuptiall of Lucientio: / Come Pentycoſt as quickly as it vvill, / Some fiue and tvventy yeares, and then vve maske."
- 3 In full day of Pentecost or Pentecost day: the day on which the event commemorated by the festival (proper noun sense 2) occurred; also, the event itself. broadly
"[T]heſe three at ſeveral times did repreſent the perſon of God: Moſes, and his succeſſors the High Prieſts, and Kings of Judah, in the Old Teſtament: Chriſt himſelf, in the time he lived on earth: and the Apoſtles, and their succeſſors, from the day of Pentecoſt (vvhen the Holy Ghoſt deſcended on them) to this day."
- 4 Synonym of Whitsuntide (“the week beginning on Whitsunday; also, the weekend which includes Whitsunday”). broadly
- 5 The gift of the Holy Spirit to a Christian; also, the occurrence of this. broadly
"Ever the fiery Pentecost / Girds with one flame the countless host, / Trances the heart through chanting choirs, / And through the priest the mind inspires."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 A surname.
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"The newly redeemed nation of Israel experienced Passover through Pentecost from leaving Egypt, their place of bondage, up to receiving the covenant from God at Sinai."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "pentecost"?
Common synonyms include: feast of weeks, advent, allhallowmas, allhallows, allhallowtide, annunciation.
How do you use "pentecost" in a sentence?
The newly redeemed nation of Israel experienced Passover through Pentecost from leaving Egypt, their place of bondage, up to receiving the covenant from God at Sinai.
How do you pronounce "pentecost"?
Pronounced /ˈpɛntɪkɒst/.
Etymology
From Middle English Pentecoste (“feast of the descent of the Holy Spirit, Pentecost; season of Pentecost, Whitsuntide; Jewish festival celebrating giving of the law to Moses”), from Old English Pentecosten, also influenced by Anglo-Norman pentecoste, Middle French pentecoste, and Old French pentecoste (“Christian feast of Pentecost; Jewish festival of Pentecost”) (modern French Pentecôte). Both the Old English and Old French words are derived from Ecclesiastical Latin Pentēcostē (“Christian feast of Pentecost; Jewish festival of Pentecost”), from Koine Greek πεντηκοστή (pentēkostḗ, “Christian feast of Pentecost; Jewish festival of Pentecost”), from Ancient Greek πεντηκοστή (pentēkostḗ, “fiftieth”), a noun use of the feminine form of πεντηκοστὸς (pentēkostòs, “fiftieth”, adjective), short for πεντηκοστὸς ἡμέρα (pentēkostòs hēméra, “fiftieth day”) (referring to the Jewish festival falling on the fiftieth day after the second day of the Passover), used in the Bible to translate Hebrew שָׁבוּעוֹת (shāvū'ót, “weeks”). Πεντηκοστὸς (Pentēkostòs) is derived from Proto-Hellenic *penkʷēkontstós, from *pénkʷe (“five”) (from Proto-Indo-European *pénkʷe (“five; hand”)) + *-kontstós (suffix forming ordinal numbers from twentieth to ninetieth) (whence ; from Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥ (“ten”)). The surname is from Old French and Middle English Pentecost, a personal name perhaps given to one born on Pentecost; also an altered form of Pankhurst. Compare Pancoast.