CALENDAR HISTORY
The names of the days of the week in English come from a mix of Roman planet gods and Norse mythology. Most European languages follow the same Roman pattern — but with their own variations.
| Day | Named after | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Moon (Luna) | Old English: Mōnandæg ("Moon's day") |
| Tuesday | Tyr (Norse war god) | Old English: Tīwesdæg — replaced Roman Mars |
| Wednesday | Woden/Odin (Norse chief god) | Old English: Wōdnesdæg — replaced Roman Mercury |
| Thursday | Thor (Norse thunder god) | Old English: Þūnresdæg — replaced Roman Jupiter |
| Friday | Frigg/Freyja (Norse goddess) | Old English: Frīgedæg — replaced Roman Venus |
| Saturday | Saturn (Roman god) | Old English: Sæternesdæg — Roman name kept |
| Sunday | Sun (Sol) | Old English: Sunnandæg ("Sun's day") |
When Germanic tribes adopted the Roman 7-day week (around the 1st–3rd century AD), they replaced the Roman planet gods with their own equivalent deities:
Saturday kept its Roman name (Saturn had no Norse equivalent). Sunday and Monday kept celestial names shared across cultures.
| Day | French | Spanish | Italian | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | lundi | lunes | lunedì | Luna (Moon) |
| Tuesday | mardi | martes | martedì | Mars |
| Wednesday | mercredi | miércoles | mercoledì | Mercury |
| Thursday | jeudi | jueves | giovedì | Jupiter/Jove |
| Friday | vendredi | viernes | venerdì | Venus |
| Saturday | samedi | sábado | sabato | Sabbath (Hebrew) |
| Sunday | dimanche | domingo | domenica | Dies Dominica (Lord's Day) |
Wednesday comes from "Woden's day" (Old English: Wōdnesdæg). The "d" was pronounced in Old English but was dropped in speech over time, while the spelling was preserved.
Saturn had no clear equivalent in Norse mythology, so Germanic tribes kept the Roman name. All other weekdays were adapted to Norse gods.
Romance languages (French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese) got the word from the Hebrew "Shabbat" via Latin "Sabbatum." English instead kept the Germanic "Saturn's day."
Sunday means "Sun's day" — from Old English "Sunnandæg." In Romance languages, Sunday became "Lord's Day" (dies Dominica): dimanche, domingo, domenica.