Pentecost \Pen"te*cost\, n. [L. pentecoste, Gr. ? (sc. ?) the
fiftieth day, Pentecost, fr. ? fiftieth, fr. ? fifty, fr. ?
five. See Five, and cf. Pingster.]
1. A solemn festival of the Jews; -- so called because
celebrated on the fiftieth day (seven weeks) after the
second day of the Passover (which fell on the sixteenth of
the Jewish month Nisan); -- hence called, also, the Feast
of Weeks. At this festival an offering of the first
fruits of the harvest was made. By the Jews it was
generally regarded as commemorative of the gift of the law
on the fiftieth day after the departure from Egypt.
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2. A festival of the Roman Catholic and other churches in
commemoration of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the
apostles; which occurred on the day of Pentecost; --
called also Whitsunday. --Shak.
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Week \Week\, n. [OE. weke, wike, woke, wuke AS. weocu, wicu,
wucu; akin to OS. wika, OFries. wike, D. week, G. woche, OHG.
wohha, wehha, Icel. vika, Sw. vecka, Dan. uge, Goth. wik?,
probably originally meaning, a succession or change, and akin
to G. wechsel change, L. vicis turn, alternation, and E.
weak. Cf. Weak.]
A period of seven days, usually that reckoned from one
Sabbath or Sunday to the next.
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I fast twice in the week. --Luke xviii.
12.
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Note: Although it [the week] did not enter into the calendar
of the Greeks, and was not introduced at Rome till
after the reign of Theodesius, it has been employed
from time immemorial in almost all Eastern countries.
--Encyc. Brit.
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Feast of Weeks. See Pentecost, 1.
Prophetic week, a week of years, or seven years. --Dan. ix.
24.
Week day. See under Day.
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