Days_of_the_week Days_of_the_week

Days of the week - Definition and Overview

In English the days of the week are:

Saturday and Sunday are commonly called the weekend and are days of rest and recreation in most western cultures. The other five days are then known as weekdays. Friday and Saturday are days of rest in Muslim and Jewish countries.

Contents

Order

The week as we know it was introduced by astromancers around the 3rd century, replacing the Roman calendar in use until then. The order of the days was explained by Dio Cassius (and Chaucer gave the same explanation in his Treatise on the Astrolabe). According to Cassius, it was a principle of astrology that the heavenly bodies presided, in succession, over the hours of the day. The Ptolemaic system asserts that the order of the heavenly bodies, from the farthest to the closest to the Earth, is: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon. (This order was first established by the Greek Stoics.)

If the first hour of a day is dominated by Saturn (
Saturn_symbol.ant.png
Saturn

), then the second hour is dominated by Jupiter (
Jupiter_symbol.ant.png
Jupiter

), the third by Mars (
Mars_symbol.ant.png
Mars

), and so on, so that the sequence of planets repeats every seven hours. Therefore, the twenty-fifth hour, which is the first hour of the following day, is dominated by the Sun; the forty-ninth hour, which is the first hour of the next day, by the Moon. Thus, if a day is labelled by the planet which dominates its first hour, then Saturn's day is followed by the Sun's day, which is followed by the Moon's day, and so forth, as shown below.

In English, the Anglo-Saxon names of the days of the week obscure this relationship somewhat (see Names).

Hour: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Luminary → name
Day 1
Saturn_symbol_red.ant.png
Saturn


Jupiter_symbol.ant.png
Jupiter


Mars_symbol.ant.png
Mars


Sun_symbol.ant.png
Sun


Venus_symbol.ant.png
Venus


Mercury_symbol.ant.png
Mercury


Moon_symbol.ant.png
Moon


Saturn_symbol.ant.png
Saturn


Jupiter_symbol.ant.png
Jupiter


Mars_symbol.ant.png
Mars


Sun_symbol.ant.png
Sun


Venus_symbol.ant.png
Venus


Mercury_symbol.ant.png
Mercury


Moon_symbol.ant.png
Moon


Saturn_symbol.ant.png
Saturn


Jupiter_symbol.ant.png
Jupiter


Mars_symbol.ant.png
Mars


Sun_symbol.ant.png
Sun


Venus_symbol.ant.png
Venus


Mercury_symbol.ant.png
Mercury


Moon_symbol.ant.png
Moon


Saturn_symbol.ant.png
Saturn


Jupiter_symbol.ant.png
Jupiter


Mars_symbol.ant.png
Mars

Saturn → Saturday
Day 2
Sun_symbol_red.ant.png
Sun


Venus_symbol.ant.png
Venus


Mercury_symbol.ant.png
Mercury


Moon_symbol.ant.png
Moon


Saturn_symbol.ant.png
Saturn


Jupiter_symbol.ant.png
Jupiter


Mars_symbol.ant.png
Mars


Sun_symbol.ant.png
Sun


Venus_symbol.ant.png
Venus


Mercury_symbol.ant.png
Mercury


Moon_symbol.ant.png
Moon


Saturn_symbol.ant.png
Saturn


Jupiter_symbol.ant.png
Jupiter


Mars_symbol.ant.png
Mars


Sun_symbol.ant.png
Sun


Venus_symbol.ant.png
Venus


Mercury_symbol.ant.png
Mercury


Moon_symbol.ant.png
Moon


Saturn_symbol.ant.png
Saturn


Jupiter_symbol.ant.png
Jupiter


Mars_symbol.ant.png
Mars


Sun_symbol.ant.png
Sun


Venus_symbol.ant.png
Venus


Mercury_symbol.ant.png
Mercury

Sun → Sunday
Day 3
Moon_symbol_red.ant.png
Moon


Saturn_symbol.ant.png
Saturn


Jupiter_symbol.ant.png
Jupiter


Mars_symbol.ant.png
Mars


Sun_symbol.ant.png
Sun


Venus_symbol.ant.png
Venus


Mercury_symbol.ant.png
Mercury


Moon_symbol.ant.png
Moon


Saturn_symbol.ant.png
Saturn


Jupiter_symbol.ant.png
Jupiter


Mars_symbol.ant.png
Mars


Sun_symbol.ant.png
Sun


Venus_symbol.ant.png
Venus


Mercury_symbol.ant.png
Mercury


Moon_symbol.ant.png
Moon


Saturn_symbol.ant.png
Saturn


Jupiter_symbol.ant.png
Jupiter


Mars_symbol.ant.png
Mars


Sun_symbol.ant.png
Sun


Venus_symbol.ant.png
Venus


Mercury_symbol.ant.png
Mercury


Moon_symbol.ant.png
Moon


Saturn_symbol.ant.png
Saturn


Jupiter_symbol.ant.png
Jupiter

Moon → Monday
Day 4
Mars_symbol_red.ant.png
Mars


Sun_symbol.ant.png
Sun


Venus_symbol.ant.png
Venus


Mercury_symbol.ant.png
Mercury


Moon_symbol.ant.png
Moon


Saturn_symbol.ant.png
Saturn


Jupiter_symbol.ant.png
Jupiter


Mars_symbol.ant.png
Mars


Sun_symbol.ant.png
Sun


Venus_symbol.ant.png
Venus


Mercury_symbol.ant.png
Mercury


Moon_symbol.ant.png
Moon


Saturn_symbol.ant.png
Saturn


Jupiter_symbol.ant.png
Jupiter


Mars_symbol.ant.png
Mars


Sun_symbol.ant.png
Sun


Venus_symbol.ant.png
Venus


Mercury_symbol.ant.png
Mercury


Moon_symbol.ant.png
Moon


Saturn_symbol.ant.png
Saturn


Jupiter_symbol.ant.png
Jupiter


Mars_symbol.ant.png
Mars


Sun_symbol.ant.png
Sun


Venus_symbol.ant.png
Venus

Mars → Tuesday
Day 5
Mercury_symbol_red.ant.png
Mercury


Moon_symbol.ant.png
Moon


Saturn_symbol.ant.png
Saturn


Jupiter_symbol.ant.png
Jupiter


Mars_symbol.ant.png
Mars


Sun_symbol.ant.png
Sun


Venus_symbol.ant.png
Venus


Mercury_symbol.ant.png
Mercury


Moon_symbol.ant.png
Moon


Saturn_symbol.ant.png
Saturn


Jupiter_symbol.ant.png
Jupiter


Mars_symbol.ant.png
Mars


Sun_symbol.ant.png
Sun


Venus_symbol.ant.png
Venus


Mercury_symbol.ant.png
Mercury


Moon_symbol.ant.png
Moon


Saturn_symbol.ant.png
Saturn


Jupiter_symbol.ant.png
Jupiter


Mars_symbol.ant.png
Mars


Sun_symbol.ant.png
Sun


Venus_symbol.ant.png
Venus


Mercury_symbol.ant.png
Mercury


Moon_symbol.ant.png
Moon


Saturn_symbol.ant.png
Saturn

Mercury → Wednesday
Day 6
Jupiter_symbol_red.ant.png
Jupiter


Mars_symbol.ant.png
Mars


Sun_symbol.ant.png
Sun


Venus_symbol.ant.png
Venus


Mercury_symbol.ant.png
Mercury


Moon_symbol.ant.png
Moon


Saturn_symbol.ant.png
Saturn


Jupiter_symbol.ant.png
Jupiter


Mars_symbol.ant.png
Mars


Sun_symbol.ant.png
Sun


Venus_symbol.ant.png
Venus


Mercury_symbol.ant.png
Mercury


Moon_symbol.ant.png
Moon


Saturn_symbol.ant.png
Saturn


Jupiter_symbol.ant.png
Jupiter


Mars_symbol.ant.png
Mars


Sun_symbol.ant.png
Sun


Venus_symbol.ant.png
Venus


Mercury_symbol.ant.png
Mercury


Moon_symbol.ant.png
Moon


Saturn_symbol.ant.png
Saturn


Jupiter_symbol.ant.png
Jupiter


Mars_symbol.ant.png
Mars


Sun_symbol.ant.png
Sun

Jupiter → Thursday
Day 7
Venus_symbol_red.ant.png
Venus


Mercury_symbol.ant.png
Mercury


Moon_symbol.ant.png
Moon


Saturn_symbol.ant.png
Saturn


Jupiter_symbol.ant.png
Jupiter


Mars_symbol.ant.png
Mars


Sun_symbol.ant.png
Sun


Venus_symbol.ant.png
Venus


Mercury_symbol.ant.png
Mercury


Moon_symbol.ant.png
Moon


Saturn_symbol.ant.png
Saturn


Jupiter_symbol.ant.png
Jupiter


Mars_symbol.ant.png
Mars


Sun_symbol.ant.png
Sun


Venus_symbol.ant.png
Venus


Mercury_symbol.ant.png
Mercury


Moon_symbol.ant.png
Moon


Saturn_symbol.ant.png
Saturn


Jupiter_symbol.ant.png
Jupiter


Mars_symbol.ant.png
Mars


Sun_symbol.ant.png
Sun


Venus_symbol.ant.png
Venus


Mercury_symbol.ant.png
Mercury


Moon_symbol.ant.png
Moon

Venus → Friday
Weekday heptagram
The same order can be derived "geometrically" from an acute heptagram, the {7/3} star polygon (as 24 Mod 7 = 3). The luminaries are arranged in the same Ptolemaic/Stoic order around the points of the heptagram. Tracing the unicursal line from one planet to the next gives the order of the weekdays.

According to Aleister Crowley, in The Book of Thoth (1944), "It is believed that this neat discovery is due to the late G. H. Frater D.D.C.F." (Pt. 1, Ch. 1). (Although, as Crowley calls the figure a hexagram, his reliability is somewhat suspect.) According to some sources this 'weekday heptagram is considerably older —

It was with the adoption and widespread use of the seven-day week throughout the Hellenistic world of mixed cultures that this heptagram was created. [1] (http://www.symbols.com/encyclopedia/29/2915.html)

Modern ordering

According to the ISO 8601 norm the week begins on a Monday. This corresponds with the term weekend for the Saturday and Sunday. However following Constantine's decision to make the first day of the week the day of religious observance, Sunday may also be considered the first day of the week in historically Christian countries. In this regard calendars exist in two varieties. The traditional Sunday-first system is used by some English speakers and much of Latin America, while most of continental Europe uses the ISO order.

Names

In English all the days of the week are named after the ruling luminary, with most of the names coming from Anglo-Saxon gods and goddesses. Sunday and Monday are named directly from the sun and moon, although the Anglo-Saxon goddess Sunne is implicit in the name of the sun itself. Saturday is the only day named after a Roman god. Other Germanic languages generally follow the same pattern, but Dutch is the only other that preserves all the astronomical names.

In most Romance languages (Italian, Spanish, French, etc.), the names of the days except Saturday and Sunday come from Roman gods via the Latin. Welsh, the closest living language to that of Roman Britain, faithfully preserves all the Latin names, even though the language itself is not directly descended from Latin.

The early Christian Church was uncomfortable using names based on "false" pagan gods, and introduced a simple numerical nomenclature which persists in many European languages, although in Slavic languages the numbering starts on Monday rather than Sunday (anticipating ISO 8601).

The (suggested) purpose of these tables is to show how far different languages preserve the associations with the ruling luminaries (or not!) and the Church's numbering of the days. (That is, not to list the names in "every" language: Wiktionary entries for the day names offer such lists – click on the links in the header row.)

Astronomical

Day Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Luminary & symbol Sun
Sun_symbol.ant.png
Sun

Moon
Moon_symbol.ant.png
Moon

Mars
Mars_symbol.ant.png
Mars

Mercury
Mercury_symbol.ant.png
Mercury

Jupiter
Jupiter_symbol.ant.png
Jupiter

Venus
Venus_symbol.ant.png
Venus

Saturn
Saturn_symbol.ant.png
Saturn

Latin dies solis dies lunea dies martis dies mercurĭi dies jovis deis venĕris dies saturni
Italian domenica (1) lunedì martedì mercoledì giovedì venerdì sabato (2)
Spanish domingo (1) lunes martes miércoles jueves viernes sábado (2)
French dimanche (1) lundi mardi mercredi jeudi vendredi samedi (2)
Welsh dydd Sul dydd Llun dydd Mawrth dydd Mercher dydd Iau dydd Gwener dydd Sadwrn
Old High German sunnuntag mānetag zeistag
Ziu's day
wodenstag
Woden's day
donerestag
Thor's day
friatag
Freia's day
sambaztag (2)
German Sonntag Montag Dienstag Mittwoch (3) Donnerstag Freitag Samstag (2) or Sonnabend ("sun's eve")
Danish søndag mandag tirsdag onsdag torsdag fredag lørdag
Dutch zondag maandag dinsdag woensdag donderdag vrijdag zaterdag
Old Norse sunnundagr
Sunna's day
mánandagr tysdagr
Tyr's day
óðensdagr
Odin's day
þorsdagr
Thor's day
friádagr
Freya's day
laugardagr (5)
Swedish Söndag Måndag Tisdag Onsdag Torsdag Fredag Lördag (4)
Finnish sunnuntai maanantai tiistai keskiviikko (3) torstai perjantai lauantai (4)
Old English sunnandæg
Sunne's day
mōnandæg tiwesdæg
Tiw's day
wodnesdæg
Woden's day
þunresdæg
Thunor's day
frigesdæg
Frige's day
sæternesdæg
English Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Luminary & symbol Sun
Sun_symbol.ant.png
Sun

Moon
Moon_symbol.ant.png
Moon

Mars
Mars_symbol.ant.png
Mars

Mercury
Mercury_symbol.ant.png
Mercury

Jupiter
Jupiter_symbol.ant.png
Jupiter

Venus
Venus_symbol.ant.png
Venus

Saturn
Saturn_symbol.ant.png
Saturn

Day Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Numerical

Day Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Latin
(Church usage)
prima feria
or dominica
secunda feria tertia feria quarta feria quinta feria sexta feria sabbatum
Portugese domingo (1) segunda-feira terça-feira quarta-feira quinta-feira sexta-feira sábado (2)
Icelandic sunnudagur (5) mánudagur (5) þriðjudagur miðvikudagur (3) fimmtudagur föstudagur
("fast day")
laugardagur (4)
Estonian pühapäev
("holy day")
esmaspäev teisipäev kolmapäev or kesknädal (3) neljapäev reede
(ON friádagr)
laupäev (4)
Polish niedziela
("no work")
poniedziałek
("after no-work")
wtorek
("second")
środa
("middle")
czwartek
("fourth")
piątek
("fifth")
sobota (2)
Russian воскресенье
voskresen'ye
("resurrection")
лонедельник
ponedel'nik
("after no-work")
вторник
vtornik
("second")
среда
sreda (3)
четверг
chetverk
("fourth")
лятница
pyatnitsa
("fifth")
суббота
subbota (2)
ISO 8601 # 7 1 2 3 4 5 6
Day Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Notes

  1. The Romance languages (Italian, Spanish, French, etc.) break from the pattern of using the Roman associations in preference for a Christian association: Sunday being the Christian day of rest, these days are named after the "day of our Lord". This is the norm in languages, such as Portuguese, where names faithfully follow Church usage.
  2. The Romance languages, Old High German and German, and the Slavic languages have words for Saturday that reflect the Jewish Sabbath.
  3. German, Finnish, and Estonian call Wednesday, prosaically, "mid-week"; Icelandic "mid-week day"; Polish, Russian, etc. "middle".
  4. Old Norse, Swedish (and other North Germanic languages), and Finnish and Estonian (Finnic languages) call Saturday "washday" or "bathday", as it was the traditional day for washing and bathing.
  5. Icelandic sunnudagur and mánudagur are astronomical, persisting presumably because there's no explicit reference to pagan gods.

See also

External links

Bibliography

  • Falk, Michael (1999). "Astronomical Names for the Days of the Week", Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Vol. 93, p.122. 1999JRASC..93..122F. [2] (http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?1999JRASC..93..122F)
Days of the week

Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday

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