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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
Emi Eleode, Time, 14 July 2025
Barbara and Nancy are grateful to their Pentecostal tenants for caring for the building.
—Literary Hub, 12 June 2025
Hannah Parry, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 July 2025
Thanks to television, Swaggart helped spread the Pentecostal movement to the uttermost parts of the earth.
—Frank E. Lockwood, Arkansas Online, 1 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for Pentecostal
Cite this Entry
“Pentecostal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Pentecostal. Accessed 22 Jul. 2025.
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