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In ancient Greek, pentekoste meant "fiftieth day"—that is, the fiftieth day after Easter (counting Easter itself). On that day, Christians celebrate an event described in the Bible that took place fifty days after Christ's resurrection, when the apostles heard the rush of a mighty wind, saw tongues of fire descending on them, and heard the Holy Spirit speaking from their own mouths but in other tongues (languages). "Speaking in tongues", when everyone in a congregation may begin talking in languages that no one can understand, is the best-known practice of Pentecostals. Pentecostals belong to many different denominations; with growing numbers especially in Latin America and Africa, there may be over 500 million Pentecostals worldwide.
Examples of Pentecostal in a Sentence
Sid Evans, Southern Living, 1 Apr. 2024
Eighteen months later, Pettitt was baptized in a modern Pentecostal outfit, where the services were relaxed and progressive, led by song.
—Sophie Elmhirst, The New Yorker, 29 Mar. 2024
Gone are the days when the Catholic Church held a monopoly over Latin American and Latino souls: for decades now, the region has been shifting toward other Christian denominations, particularly Pentecostal, evangelical, and Protestant.
—Graciela Mochkofsky, The New Yorker, 18 Mar. 2024
Growing up, the singer — who was raised by strict Pentecostal parents — struggled financially, and her family often relied on food stamps and food banks for their next meal.
—Melody Chiu, Peoplemag, 29 Feb. 2024
Growing up in Greensboro, Alabama, where her father was the deacon and Sunday school teacher of her Pentecostal church, Long — who was assigned male at birth but now often uses she/her pronouns — remembers feeling different about her gender and sexuality as early as kindergarten.
—Spencer MacNaughton, NBC News, 28 Jan. 2024
At a Pentecostal church in Nashua, N.H., a handful of students braved the snow Wednesday for an English class offered through a local Latino community center.
—Andrea Castillo, Los Angeles Times, 23 Jan. 2024
Many people have instead turned to evangelical, particularly Pentecostal, churches.
—Samantha Schmidt, Washington Post, 15 Dec. 2023
The Pentecostal pastor was joined by Adam McKaig, founder of the nonprofit organization Adam's Angels.
—Escher Walcott, Peoplemag, 12 Dec. 2023
Noelle Alviz-Gransee, Kansas City Star, 26 June 2024
His father, Rich Wilkerson Sr., a Pentecostal minister and Christian author, led Trinity Church in Miami for over 25 years.
—Lauren Costantino, Miami Herald, 16 June 2024
The 10-minute film draws from Ilori’s experiences in the Pentecostal church, traveling with a congregation from London to Margate, England, in white garments to enter the sea and collect seawater to be blessed, prayed over and later bathed in.
—Obi Anyanwu, WWD, 15 June 2024
The new series, set to premiere on July 21, will explore what happens when a Pentecostal preacher’s son dates a Muslim woman, an Orthodox Jew courts a Catholic woman, an Amish man enters the world of a non-Amish woman, and a Muslim man finds romance with a conservative Catholic.
—Brian Anthony Hernandez, Peoplemag, 10 June 2024
The bulk of the properties — including the Pentecostal Aposento Alto Church, Avis Car Rental, a baseball card shop and Toni’s Italian Restaurant — sit on the north side of Santa Fe, in between North Rogers Road and Lindenwood Drive.
—Sarah Ritter, Kansas City Star, 10 June 2024
Colantonio set the fires to the Pentecostal church in the early hours of Sunday, authorities said.
—Muri Assunção, New York Daily News, 15 Feb. 2024
Upon his arrival in Miami, Stewart quickly aligned himself with the local United Pentecostal Church and worked as an assistant administrator at Dade County’s Public Health Trust at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
—Bea. L. Hines, Miami Herald, 24 May 2024
Over more than a century, the church traded hands from Christian Scientists who descended from European immigrants; to Baptists who confronted racial inequality head-on; to Pentecostals who hail from Milwaukee's fast-growing Latino immigrant community on the south side.
—Sophie Carson, Journal Sentinel, 28 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'Pentecostal.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near Pentecostal
Cite this Entry
“Pentecostal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Pentecostal. Accessed 14 Jul. 2024.
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