passion dayn.
/ˈpaʃn deɪ/, U.S. /ˈpæʃ(ə)n ˌdeɪ/ Christian Church. rare after 17th cent.† 1. Usually with capital initial. The day on which Jesus was crucified. Obsolete.
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ParasceveOE
Long FridayOE
Good Fridayc1300
passion day1601
1601 Song of Mary Mother of Christ 14 The night before his holy passion day, She wing his loue to his Apostles deare.
1648 Earl of Westmorland Otia Sacra 83 Doth Passion bear o'r Reason sway, Making us quite neglect this Passion day?
?1856 tr. Vexilla Regis in St. John's Man. (1856) 397 Hail, Cross! thou only hope of man, Hail on this holy Passion-day!
2. Originally: a day on which a Christian martyr suffered death, or on which the martyr's sufferings are commemorated. Later: (in extended use) of non-Christian martyrs.
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passion day1646
1646 R. Vines Hearse Renowned Earle of Essex 20 Arme you against your fall that the day therof may be to you (as the Passion-day of the Martyrs was called) the birth-day of Eternity.
1673 W. Cave Primitive Christianity i. vii. 204 We celebrate the passion days of the Martyrs.
1961 P. K. Hitti Near East in Hist. xix. 221 The tenth of Muharram..on which ‘martyrdom’ was suffered is still commemorated as an annual passion day.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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