PENTECOST

(Gr. wivn^xotrTOi, fiftieth.) A Jewish festival; so called because it was observed on the fiftieth day after the feast of unleavened bread; i. e. the fifteenth of the month Nisan, and next day after the Feast of the Pa over. Being celebrated seven weeks after this latter, it also obtained the name of the Feast of Weeks. It occurred about the beginning of the harvest, and seems to have been instituted as an acknowledgment of the goodne of God in giving the fruits of the earth. It also commemorated the giving of the law on Mount Sinai upon that day. The difl'usion of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles upon the same day, as recorded in Acts ii., has occasioned its observance to be continued among Christians. In England it is known by the name of Whit Sunday; and in Germany by that of Pfingsten. PEN TEL AS MID.E. {Gr. irtvTi,AndtXa.(rtioc,a layer.) The family of Pedunculate Cirripeds, of which the common bartiacle {Pentelasmis croceaj is the type. The principal organs of the body are protected by five shelly plates. [s. 923]