User:StevenJ81/Names of the days of the week

Italian cameo bracelet representing the days of the week, corresponding to the planets as Roman gods: Diana as the Moon for Monday, Mars for Tuesday, Mercury for Wednesday, Jupiter for Thursday, Venus for Friday, Saturn for Saturday, and Apollo as the Sun for Sunday. Middle 19th century, Walters Art Museum

The names of the days of the seven-day week in many languages are derived from the names of the classical planets in Hellenistic astrology, which were in turn named after contemporary deities, a system introduced in the Roman Empire during Late Antiquity. In some other languages, the days are named for corresponding deities of the regional culture, either beginning with Sunday or with Monday. In the international standard ISO 8601, Monday is treated as the first day of the week.

Days named after planets

Greco-Roman tradition

Further information: Seven-day week and Planetary hours

Between the 1st and 3rd centuries the Roman Empire gradually replaced the eight-day Roman nundinal cycle with the seven-day week. Our earliest evidence for this new system is a Pompeiian graffito referring to the 6th February (viii idus Februarius) of the year AD 60 as dies solis ("Sunday"). Another early witness is a reference to a lost treatise by Plutarch, written in about AD 100, which addressed the question of Why are the days named after the planets reckoned in a different order from the actual order?.

The days were named after the planets of Hellenistic astrology, in the order Sun, Moon, Mars (Ares), Mercury (Hermes), Jupiter (Zeus), Venus (Aphrodite) and Saturn (Cronos).

The seven-day week spread throughout the Roman Empire in Late Antiquity. By the 4th century, it was in wide use throughout the Empire, and it had also reached India and China.

The Greek and Latin names are as follows:

Day: (see Irregularities)	Sunday Sōl/Helios (Sun)	Monday Luna/Selene (Moon)	Tuesday Mars/Ares (Mars)	Wednesday Mercurius/Hermes (Mercury)	Thursday Iuppiter/Zeus (Jupiter)	Friday Venus/Aphrodite (Venus)	Saturday Saturnus/Kronos (Saturn)
Greek	ἡμέρα Ἡλίου hêméra Hêlíou	ἡμέρα Σελήνης hêméra Selếnês	ἡμέρα Ἄρεως hêméra Áreôs	ἡμέρα Ἑρμοῦ hêméra Hermoú	ἡμέρα Διός hêméra Diós	ἡμέρα Ἀφροδίτης hêméra Aphrodítês	ἡμέρα Κρόνου hêméra Krónou
Latin	dies Sōlis	dies Lūnae	dies Martis	dies Mercuriī	dies Iovis	dies Veneris	dies Saturnī

Romance languages

Except for modern Portuguese, the Romance languages preserved the Latin names, except for the names of Sunday, which was replaced by [dies] Dominicus (Dominica), i.e. "Day of the Lord" and of Saturday, which was named for the Sabbath.

Day: (see Irregularities)	Sunday Sōl (Sun)	Monday Luna (Moon)	Tuesday Mars (Mars)	Wednesday Mercurius (Mercury)	Thursday Iuppiter (Jupiter)	Friday Venus (Venus)	Saturday Saturnus (Saturn)
Italian	domenica	lunedì	martedì	mercoledì	giovedì	venerdì	sabato
Old Portuguese	domingo	lues	martes	mércores	joves	vernes	sábado
Galician	domingo	luns	martes	mércores	xoves	venres	sábado
Spanish	domingo	lunes	martes	miércoles	jueves	viernes	sábado
Romanian	duminică	luni	marţi	miercuri	joi	vineri	sâmbătă
French	dimanche	lundi	mardi	mercredi	jeudi	vendredi	samedi
Occitan	dimenge	diluns	dimarts	dimècres	dijòus	divendres	dissabte
Catalan	diumenge	dilluns	dimarts	dimecres	dijous	divendres	dissabte
Asturian	domingu	llunes	martes	miércoles	xueves	vienres	sábadu
Venetian	domenega	luni	marti	mèrcore	zioba	vénare	sabo
Friulian	domenie	lunis	martars	miercus	joibe	vinars	sabide
Neapolitan	dummeneca	lunnerì	marterì	miercurì	gioverì	viernarì	sàbbatu
Sardinian	dominiga	lunis	martis	mercuris	giobia	chenabura	sappadu
Sicilian	dumínica	luni	marti	mércuri	juvi	vénniri	sábbatu

Celtic languages

Old Irish adopted the names from Latin, but introduced separate terms of uncertain origin for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Day: (see Irregularities)	Sunday Sōl (Sun)	Monday Luna (Moon)	Tuesday Mars (Mars)	Wednesday Mercurius (Mercury)	Thursday Iuppiter (Jupiter)	Friday Venus (Venus)	Saturday Saturnus (Saturn)
Old Irish	diu srol dies scrol	Diu luna	Diu mart	Diu iath	Diu eathamon	Diu triach	Diu satur[n]
Irish	An Domhnach Dé Domhnaigh	An Luan Dé Luain	An Mháirt Dé Máirt	An Chéadaoin Dé Céadaoin	An Déardaoin Déardaoin	An Aoine Dé hAoine	An Satharn Dé Sathairn
Scottish Gaelic	Di-Dòmhnaich / Didòmhnaich	Di-Luain / Diluain	Di-Màirt / Dimàirt	Di-Ciadain / Diciadain	Di-Ardaoin / Diardaoin	Di-Haoine / Dihaoine	Di-Sàthairne / Disathairne
Welsh	dydd Sul	dydd Llun	dydd Mawrth	dydd Mercher	dydd Iau	dydd Gwener	dydd Sadwrn
Cornish	Dy' Sul	Dy' Lun	Dy' Meurth	Dy' Mergher	Dy' Yow	Dy' Gwener	Dy' Sadorn
Breton	Disul	Dilun	Dimeurzh	Dimerc’her	Diriaou	Digwener	Disadorn
Manx	Jedoonee	Jelune	Jemayrt	Jecrean	Jerdein	Jeheiney	Jesarn

Adoptions from Romance

Albanian adopted the Latin terms. Other languages adopted the week together with the Latin (Romance) names for the days of the week in the colonial period. Some constructed languages also adopted the Latin terminology.

Day: (see Irregularities)	Sunday Sōl (Sun)	Monday Luna (Moon)	Tuesday Mars (Mars)	Wednesday Mercurius (Mercury)	Thursday Iuppiter (Jupiter)	Friday Venus (Venus)	Saturday Saturnus (Saturn)
Albanian	E diel	E hënë	E martë	E mërkurë	E enjte	E premte	E shtunë
Filipino	Linggò Dominggo in most other Philippine languages	Lunes	Martes	Miyerkules	Huwebes	Biyernes	Sábado
Interlingua	Dominica	Lunedi	Martedi	Mercuridi	Jovedi	Venerdi	Sabbato
Ido	Sundio	Lundio	Mardio	Merkurdio	Jovdio	Venerdio	Saturdio
Esperanto	dimanĉo	lundo	mardo	merkredo	ĵaŭdo	vendredo	sabato

Germanic tradition

Further information: Germanic calendar

The Germanic peoples adapted the system introduced by the Romans by substituting the Norse/Germanic deities for the Roman ones (with the exception of Saturday) in a process known as interpretatio germanica. The date of the introduction of this system is not known exactly, but it must have happened later than AD 200 but before the introduction of Christianity during the 6th to 7th centuries, i.e., during the final phase or soon after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. This period is later than the Common Germanic stage, but still during the phase of undifferentiated West Germanic. The names of the days of the week in North Germanic languages were not calqued from Latin directly, but taken from the West Germanic names.

• Sunday: Old English Sunnandæg (pronounced [ˈsunnɑndæj]), meaning "sun's day." This is a translation of the Latin phrase dies Solis. English, like most of the Germanic languages, preserves the original pagan/sun associations of the day. Many other European languages, including all of the Romance languages, have changed its name to the equivalent of "the Lord's day" (based on Ecclesiastical Latin dies Dominica). In both West Germanic and North Germanic mythology the Sun is personified as a goddess, Sunna/Sól.
• Monday: Old English Mōnandæg (pronounced [ˈmoːnɑndæj]), meaning "Moon's day." This is based on a translation of the Latin name dies lunae. In North Germanic mythology, the Moon is personified as a god, Máni.
• Tuesday: Old English Tīwesdæg (pronounced [ˈtiːwezdæj]), meaning "Tiw's day." Tiw (Norse Týr) was a one-handed god associated with single combat and pledges in Norse mythology and also attested prominently in wider Germanic paganism. The name of the day is based on Latin dies Martis, "Day of Mars".
• Wednesday: Old English Wōdnesdæg (pronounced [ˈwoːdnezdæj]) meaning the day of the Germanic god Wodan (known as Óðinn among the North Germanic peoples), and a prominent god of the Anglo-Saxons (and other Germanic peoples) in England until about the seventh century. It is based on Latin dies Mercurii, "Day of Mercury." The connection between Mercury and Odin is more strained than the other syncretic connections. The usual explanation is that both Wodan and Mercury were considered psychopomps, or guides of souls after death, in their respective mythologies; both are also associated with poetic and musical inspiration. The Icelandic Miðviku, German Mittwoch, Low German Middeweek and Finnish keskiviikko all mean mid-week.
• Thursday: Old English Þūnresdæg (pronounced [ˈθuːnrezdæj]), meaning 'Þunor's day'. Þunor means thunder or its personification, the Norse god known in Modern English as Thor. Similarly Dutch donderdag, German Donnerstag ('thunder's day'), Finnish torstai, and Scandinavian Torsdag ('Thor's day'). Thor's day corresponds to Latin dies Iovis, "day of Jupiter".
• Friday: Old English Frīgedæg (pronounced [ˈfriːjedæj]), meaning the day of the Anglo-Saxon goddess Fríge. The Norse name for the planet Venus was Friggjarstjarna, 'Frigg's star'. It is based on the Latin dies Veneris, "Day of Venus."
• Saturday: the only day of the week to retain its Roman origin in English, named after the Roman god Saturn associated with the Titan Cronus, father of Zeus and many Olympians. Its original Anglo-Saxon rendering was Sæturnesdæg (pronounced [ˈsæturnezdæj]). In Latin it was dies Saturni, "Day of Saturn." The Scandinavian Lørdag/Lördag deviates significantly as it has no reference to either the Norse or the Roman pantheon; it derives from old Norse laugardagr, literally "washing-day." The German Sonnabend (mainly used in northern and eastern Germany) and the Low German words Sünnavend mean "Sunday Eve", the German word Samstag (mainly used in southern and western Germany) derives from the name for Shabbat.

Day: (see Irregularities)	Sunday Sunna/Sól	Monday Mona/Máni	Tuesday Tiw/Tyr	Wednesday Woden/Odin	Thursday Thunor/Thor	Friday Frige or Freya	Saturday Saturn
Proto-Germanic	*Sunnōniz dagaz	*Mēniniz dagaz	*Tīwas dagaz, *Þingsas dagaz	*Wōdanas dagaz	*Þunras dagaz	*Frijjōz dagaz	*Saturnas dagaz, *Laugōz dagaz
Old English	Sunnandæg	Mōnandæg	Tīwesdæg	Wōdnesdæg	Þunresdæg	Frīgedæg	Sæternesdæg
Old Saxon	Sunnundag	*Mānundag	*Tiuwesdag, *Thingesdag	Wōdanesdag	*Thunaresdag	Frīadag	*Sunnunāƀand, *Satarnesdag
Old High German	Sunnûntag	Mânetag	Zîestag	Wuotanestag	Donarestag	Frîjatag	Sunnûnâband, Sambaztag
Middle Low German	Sunnedag	Manedag	Dingesdag	Wodenesdag	Donersdag	Vrīdag	Sunnenavend, Satersdag
German	Sonntag	Montag	Dienstag , Ziestag (Swiss German)	Mittwoch (older Wutenstag)	Donnerstag	Freitag	Sonnabend , Samstag
Yiddish	Zuntik - זונטיק	Montik - מאנטיק	Dinstik - דינסטיק	Mitvokh - מיטוואך	Donershtik - דאנערשטיק	Fraytik - פרײַטיק	Shabbes - שבת
Scots	Saubath, Sunday	Monanday	Tysday	Wadensday	Fuirsday	Friday	Seturday
Dutch	zondag	maandag	dinsdag	woensdag	donderdag	vrijdag	zaterdag
Afrikaans	Sondag	Maandag	Dinsdag	Woensdag	Donderdag	Vrydag	Saterdag
Luxembourgish	Sonndeg	Méindeg	Dënschdeg	Mëttwoch	Donneschdeg	Freideg	Samschdeg
West Frisian	Snein	Moandei	Tiisdei	Woansdei	Tongersdei	Freed	Sneon, Saterdei
Low Saxon	Sünndag	Maandag	Dingsdag	Middeweek, Goonsdag (rarely Woonsdag)	Dünnerdag	Freedag	Sünnavend, Saterdag
Old Norse	sunnudagr	mánadagr	tysdagr	óðinsdagr	þórsdagr	frjádagr	laugardagr , sunnunótt
Faroese	sunnudagur	mánadagur	týsdagur	mikudagur , ónsdagur (Suðuroy)	hósdagur/ tórsdagur (Suðuroy)	fríggjadagur	leygardagur
Icelandic	sunnudagur	mánudagur	þriðjudagur	miðvikudagur	fimmtudagur	föstudagur	laugardagur
Norwegian Nynorsk	sundag/søndag	måndag	tysdag	onsdag	torsdag	fredag	laurdag
Norwegian Bokmål	søndag	mandag	tirsdag	onsdag	torsdag	fredag	lørdag
Danish	søndag	mandag	tirsdag	onsdag	torsdag	fredag	lørdag
Swedish	söndag	måndag	tisdag	onsdag	torsdag	fredag	lördag

Adoptions from Germanic

Day: (see Irregularities)	Sunday Sunna/Sól	Monday Mona/Máni	Tuesday Tiw/Tyr	Wednesday Woden/Odin	Thursday Thunor/Thor	Friday Frige or Freya	Saturday Saturn
Finnish	sunnuntai	maanantai	tiistai	keskiviikko	torstai	perjantai	lauantai
Estonian	pühapäev	esmaspäev	teisipäev	kolmapäev	neljapäev	reede	laupäev
Maori (transliteration; translation)	wiki; Rātapu	mane; Rāhina	tūrei; Rātū	wenerei; Rāapa	tāite; Rāpare	paraire; Rāmere	hāterei; Rāhoroi

Indian tradition

Further information: Navagraha

Indian astrology adopted the concept of days under the regency of a planet under the term vāra, the days of the week being called āditya-, soma-, maṅgala-, budha-, guru-, śukra-, and śani-vāra. śukrá is a name of Venus (regarded as a son of Bhṛgu); guru is here a title of Bṛhaspati, and hence of Jupiter; budha "Mercury" is regarded as a son of Soma, i.e. the Moon. Knowledge of Greek astrology existed since about the 2nd century BC, but references to the vāra occur somewhat later, during the Gupta period (Yājñavalkya Smṛti, c. 3rd to 5th century), i.e. at roughly the same period the system was introduced in the Roman Empire.

	Sunday the Sun (Aditya, Ravi)	Monday the Moon (Soma, Indu)	Tuesday Mars (Mangala)	Wednesday Mercury (Budha)	Thursday Jupiter (Guru)	Friday Venus (Shukra)	Saturday Saturn (Shani)
Hindi	रविवार Ravivār	सोमवार Somavār	मंगलवार Mangalavār	बुधवार Budhavār	गुरूवार Guruvār	शुक्रवार Shukravār	शनिवार Shanivār
Nepali	आइतवार Aaitabar	सोमवार Sombar	मंगलवार Mangalbar	बुधवार Budhbar	बिहिवार Bihibar	शुक्रवार Sukrabar	शनिवार Sanibar
Marathi	रविवार Ravivār	सोमवार Somavār	मंगळवार Mangaḷavār	बुधवार Budhavār	गुरूवार Guruvār	शुक्रवार Shukravār	शनिवार Shanivār
Bengali	রবিবার Robibar	সোমবার Shombar	মঙ্গলবার Monggolbar	বুধবার Budhbar	বৃহস্পতিবার Brihôshpotibar	শুক্রবার Shukrobar	শনিবার Shonibar
Sindhi	aacheru آچر	soomaru سومر	angaro انڱارو	arbau اربع	kameesa خميس	jum'o جمعو	chhanchher ڇنڇر
Urdu	Itwār اتوار	Pīr پیر or	Mangal منگل	Budh بدھ	Jumā-rāt جمعراتRaat = Eve	Jum'ah جمعہ	ہفتہ Haftah
Bhojpuri	एतवार Aitwār	सोमार Somār	मंगर Mangar	बुध Budh	बियफे Bi'phey	सुक्क Sukk	सनिच्चर Sanichchar
Kashmiri	اَتھ وار Aath'var	ژندر وار Tsander'var	پم وار Bom'var	برھ وار Budh'var	برس وار Bres'var	جُمھ Jummah	بٹ وار Bat'var
Gujarati	રવિવાર Ravivār	સોમવાર Somvār	મંગળવાર Mangaḷvār	બુધવાર Budhvār	ગુરૂવાર Guruvār	શુક્રવાર Shukravār	શનિવાર Shanivār
Punjabi	ਐਤਵਾਰ etvār	ਸੋਮਵਾਰ sōmvār	ਮੰਗਲਵਾਰ mangalvār	ਬੁੱਧਵਾਰ búdvār	ਵੀਰਵਾਰ vīrvār	ਸ਼ੁੱਕਰਵਾਰ shukkarvār	ਸ਼ਨਿੱਚਰਵਾਰ shaniccharvār
Maldivian	އާދީއްތަ Aadheettha	ހޯމަ Homa	އަންގާރަ Angaara	ބުދަ Budha	ބުރާސްފަތި Buraasfathi	ހުކުރު Hukuru	ހޮނިހިރު Honihiru
Kannada	ಭಾನುವಾರ Bhanu Vaara	ಸೋಮವಾರ Soma Vaara	ಮಂಗಳವಾರ Mangala Vaara	ಬುಧವಾರ Budha Vaara	ಗುರುವಾರ Guru Vaara	ಶುಕ್ರವಾರ Shukra Vaara	ಶನಿವಾರ Shani Vaara
Oriya	ଋବିବାର Ravivār	ସୋମବାର Somavār	ମଙ୍ଗଳବାର Mangalavār	ବୁଧବାର Budhavār	ଗୁରୁବାର Guruvār	ଶୁକ୍ରବାର Shukravār	ଶନିବାର Shanivār
Telugu	ఆదివారం Aadi Vāram	సోమవారం Soma Vāram	మంగళవారం Mangala Vāram	బుధవారం Budha Vāram	గురువారం Bestha/Guru/Lakshmi Vāram	శుక్రవారం Shukra Vāram	శనివారం Shani Vāram
Tamil	ஞாயிறு Gnyāyiru	திங்கள் Thingal	செவ்வாய் Chevvāi	புதன் Budhan	வியாழன் Viyāzhan	வெள்ளி Velli	சனி Sani
Malayalam	ഞായര്‍ Nhāyar	തിങ്കള്‍ Tingal	ചൊവ്വ Chovva	ബുധന്‍ Budhan	വ്യാഴം Vyāzham	വെള്ളി Velli	ശനി Shani
Burmese	တနင်္ဂနွေ IPA: [tənɪ́ɴ ɡənwè] (ta.nangga.nwe)	တနင်္လာ IPA: [tənɪ́ɴ là] (ta.nangla)	အင်္ဂါ IPA: [ɪ̀ɴ ɡà] (Angga)	ဗုဒ္ဓဟူး IPA: [boʊʔ dəhú] (Buddhahu) (afternoon=new day) ရာဟု Rahu	ကြာသာပတေး IPA: [tɕà ðà bədé] (Krasapate)	သောကြာ IPA: [θaʊʔ tɕà] (Saukra)	စနေ IPA: [sənè] (Cane)
Mon	တ္ၚဲ အဒိုတ် Template:IPA-mnw from Sans. āditya	တ္ၚဲ စန် [ŋoa cɔn] from Sans. candra	တ္ၚဲ အၚါ [ŋoa əŋɛ̀a] from Sans. aṅgāra	တ္ၚဲ ဗုဒ္ဓဝါ [ŋoa pùt-həwɛ̀a] from Sans. budhavāra	တ္ၚဲ ဗြဴဗ္တိ [ŋoa pɹɛ̀apətɔeʔ] from Sans. bṛhaspati	တ္ၚဲ သိုက်. [ŋoa sak] from Sans. śukra	တ္ၚဲ သ္ၚိ သဝ် [ŋoa hɔeʔ sɔ] from Sans. śani
Khmer	ថ្ងៃអាទិត្យ [tŋaj ʔaːtɨt]	ថ្ងៃចន្ទ [tŋaj can]	ថ្ងៃអង្គារ [tŋaj ʔɑŋkiə]	ថ្ងៃពុធ [tŋaj put]	ថ្ងៃព្រហស្បត្ណិ [tŋaj prɔhoə̯h]	ថ្ងៃសុក្រ [tŋaj sok]	ថ្ងៃសៅរ៍ [tŋaj saʋ]
Lao	ວັນອາທິດ [wán ʔàːtʰīt]	ວັນຈັນ [wán càn]	ວັນອັງຄານ [wán ʔàŋkʰáːn]	ວັນພຸດ [wán pʰūt]	ວັນພະຫັດ [wán pʰāhát]	ວັນສຸກ [wán súk]	ວັນເສົາ [wán sǎu]
Shan	ဝၼ်းဢႃတိတ်ႉ IPA: [wan˦ ʔaː˩ tit˥]	ဝၼ်းၸၼ် IPA: [wan˦ tsan˩]	ဝၼ်းဢင်းၵၼ်း IPA: [wan˦ ʔaŋ˦ kan˦]	ဝၼ်းၽုတ်ႉ IPA: [wan˦ pʰut˥]	ဝၼ်းၽတ်း IPA: [wan˦ pʰat˦]	ဝၼ်းသုၵ်း IPA: [wan˦ sʰuk˦]	ဝၼ်းသဝ် IPA: [wan˦ sʰaw˩]
Thai	วันอาทิตย์ Wan Āthit	วันจันทร์ Wan Chan	วันอังคาร Wan Angkhān	วันพุธ Wan Phut	วันพฤหัสบดี Wan Phruehatsabodi	วันศุกร์ Wan Suk	วันเสาร์ Wan Sao
Mongolian	адъяа ad'yaa	сумъяа sum'yaa	ангараг angarag	буд bud	бархабадь barhabad'	сугар sugar	санчир sanchir
Javanese	Raditya	Soma	Anggara	Buda	Respati	Sukra	Tumpek
Balinese	Redite	Coma	Anggara	Buda	Wraspati	Sukra	Saniscara
Sinhala	ඉරිදා Iridaa	සඳුදා Sandudaa	අඟහරුවාදා Angaharuwaadaa	බදාදා Badaadaa	බ්‍රහස්පතින්දා Brahaspathindaa	සිකුරාදා Sikuraadaa	සෙනසුරාදා Senasuraadaa
Sanskrit	भानुवासरम् Bhaanuvaasaram	इन्दुवासरम् Induvaasaram	भौमवासरम् Bhaumavaasaram	सौम्यवासरम् Saumyavaasaram	गुरुवासरम् Guruvaasaram	भृगुवासरम् Bhruguvaasaram	स्थिरवासरम् Sthiravaasaram

East Asian tradition

The East Asian naming system of days of the week closely parallels that of the Latin system and is ordered after the "Seven Luminaries" (七曜 qī yào), which consists of the Sun, Moon and the five planets visible to the naked eye.

The Chinese seem to have adopted the seven-day week from the Hellenistic system by the 4th century, although by which route is not entirely clear. It was again transmitted to China in the 8th century by Manichaeans, via the country of Kang (a Central Asian polity near Samarkand). The 4th-century date, according to the Cihai encyclopedia,Template:Year needed is due to a reference to Fan Ning (範寧/范宁), an astrologer of the Jin Dynasty. The renewed adoption from Manichaeans in the 8th century (Tang Dynasty) is documented with the writings of the Chinese Buddhist monk Yi Jing and the Ceylonese Buddhist monk Bu Kong.

The Chinese transliteration of the planetary system was soon brought to Japan by the Japanese monk Kobo Daishi; surviving diaries of the Japanese statesman Fujiwara Michinaga show the seven day system in use in Heian Period Japan as early as 1007. In Japan, the seven day system was kept in use (for astrological purposes) until its promotion to a full-fledged (Western-style) calendrical basis during the Meiji era. In China, with the founding of the Republic of China in 1911, Monday through Saturday in China are now named after the luminaries implicitly with the numbers.

For more information on the Chinese ten-day week, see Chinese_calendar § Day.2C_hour.2C_and_week.

For more information on the five elements and their relation to the planets, see Chinese astrology § Wu Xing, and Wu Xing.

	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Celestial Object	Sun (日) First Star	Moon (月) Second Star	Mars (火) Third Star	Mercury (水) Fourth Star	Jupiter (木) Fifth Star	Venus (金) Sixth Star	Saturn (土) Seventh Star
Chinese	星期日 Xīngqī Rì	星期一 Xīngqī Yī	星期二 Xīngqī Èr	星期三 Xīngqī Sān	星期四 Xīngqī Sì	星期五 Xīngqī Wǔ	星期六 Xīngqī Liù
Japanese	日曜日 Nichiyōbi	月曜日 Getsuyōbi	火曜日 Kayōbi	水曜日 Suiyōbi	木曜日 Mokuyōbi	金曜日 Kin'yōbi	土曜日 Doyōbi
Korean (Hangul)	일요일 Ilyoil	월요일 Wolyoil	화요일 Hwayoil	수요일 Suyoil	목요일 Mogyoil	금요일 Geumyoil	토요일 Toyoil
Tibetan (བོད་ཡིག་)	གཟའ་ཉི་མ།	གཟའ་ཟླ་བ།	གཟའ་མིག་དམར།	གཟའ་ལྷག་པ།	གཟའ་ཕུར་བུ།	གཟའ་པ་སངས།	གཟའ་སྤེན་པ།
Mongolian	наран өдөр naraŋ ödör	саран өдөр saraŋ ödör	гал өдөр gal ödör	усан өдөр usaŋ ödör	модон өдөр modoŋ ödör	төмөр өдөр, алтан өдөр tömör ödör, altaŋ ödör	шороон өдөр shorooŋ ödör

Pronunciations for Old Chinese names are given in Modern Standard Chinese.

Numbered days of the week

Days numbered from Sunday

See also: Feria

Sunday comes first in order in calendars shown in the table below. In the Judeo-Christian or Abrahamic tradition, the first day of the week is Sunday. Biblical Sabbath (corresponding to Saturday), when God rested from six-day Creation, made the day following Sabbath the first day of the week (corresponding to Sunday). Seventh-day Sabbaths were sanctified for celebration and rest. After the week was adopted in early Christianity, Sunday remained the first day of the week, but also gradually displaced Saturday as the day of celebration and rest, being considered the Lord's Day.

Saint Martin of Dumio (c. 520–580), archbishop of Braga, decided not to call days by pagan gods and to use ecclesiastic terminology to designate them. While the custom of numbering the days of the week was mostly prevalent in the Eastern Church, Portuguese and Galician, due to Martin's influence, are the only Romance languages in which the names of the days come from numbers rather than planetary names.

Icelandic is a special case within the Germanic languages, maintaining only the Sun and Moon (sunnudagur and mánudagur respectively), while dispensing with the names of the explicitly heathen gods in favour of a combination of numbered days and days whose names are linked to pious or domestic routine (föstudagur, "Fasting Day" and laugardagur, "Washing Day"). The "washing day" is also used in other North Germanic languages, although the planetary names generally are retained.

In Chinese, the week is referred to as the cycle of the stars (Chinese: 星期; pinyin: Xīngqī). And Sunday means the "sun's day"(星期日, Xīngqī Rì) or the "week's day"(周日, Zhōurì). Monday is the "first star's day"(星期一, Xīngqī Yī) or the "first weekday"(周一, Zhōuyī), Tuesday is the "second star's day"(星期二, Xīngqī Èr) or the "second weekday"(周二, Zhōu'èr), and so on.

In China's Southeast coast area, the Catholicism and Christianity is introduced earlier, and Sunday is called as the Lord's Day or the Worship Day(禮拜天, Lǐbài Tiān). In these areas, the week means the Worship Cycle(禮拜, Lǐbài), and Monday to Saturday is called as the Worship One to Six without taking extra considering. As the effect, Xīngqī Rì(星期日, Sunday) is called as Xīngqī Tiān(星期天, the week's day) as the common expression.

Day Number From One	Sunday Day One	Monday Day Two	Tuesday Day Three	Wednesday Day Four	Thursday Day Five	Friday Day Six	Saturday Day Seven
Icelandic	sunnudagur (Sun)	mánudagur (Moon)	þriðjudagur	miðvikudagur	fimmtudagur	föstudagur	laugardagur
Hebrew	יום ראשון yom rishon	יום שני yom sheyni	יום שלישי yom shlishi	יום רביעי yom revi'i	יום חמישי yom khamishi	יום שישי yom shishi	יום שבת yom Shabbat
Ecclesiastical Latin	Dominica	feria secunda	feria tertia	feria quarta	feria quinta	feria sexta	sabbatum
Portuguese	domingo	segunda-feira	terça-feira	quarta-feira	quinta-feira	sexta-feira	sábado
Galician	domingo	segunda feira	terza feira terceira feira	corta feira quarta feira	quinta feira	sexta feira	sábado
Greek	Κυριακή Kyriakí	Δευτέρα Deftéra	Τρίτη Tríti	Τετάρτη Tetárti	Πέμπτη Pémpti	Παρασκευή Paraskeví	Σάββατο Sávato
Georgian	კვირა k'vira	ორშაბათი oršabati	სამშაბათი samšabati	ოთხშაბათი otxšabati	ხუთშაბათი xutšabati	პარასკევი p'arask'evi	შაბათი šabati
Armenian	Կիրակի Kiraki	Երկուշաբթի Yerkushabti	Երեքշաբթի Yerekshabti	Չորեքշաբթի Chorekshabti	Հինգշաբթի Hingshabti	Ուրբաթ Urbat	Շաբաթ Shabat
Vietnamese	chủ nhật or chúa nhật	(ngày) thứ hai	(ngày) thứ ba	(ngày) thứ tư	(ngày) thứ năm	(ngày) thứ sáu	(ngày) thứ bảy
Somali	Axad	Isniin	Talaado	Arbaco	Khamiis	Jimco	Sabti
Amharic	እሑድ əhud	ሰኞ säñño (Next)	ማክሰኞ maksäñño	ረቡዕ, ሮብ räbu, rob	ሐሙስ hamus	ዓርብ arb (Sunset)	ቅዳሜ ḳədame (First)
Arabic	يوم) الأحد) (yawm) al-aḥad	يوم) الإثنين) (yawm) al-ithnayn	يوم) الثُّلَاثاء) (yawm) ath-thalathā’	يوم) الأَرْبعاء) (yawm) al-’arbi‘ā’	يوم) الخَمِيس) (yawm) al-khamīs	يوم) الجُمْعَة) (yawm) al-jum‘ah	يوم) السَّبْت) (yawm) as-sabt
Maltese	il-Ħadd	it-Tnejn	it-Tlieta	l-Erbgħa	il-Ħamis	il-Ġimgħa	is-Sibt
Malay	Ahad	Isnin	Selasa	Rabu	Khamis	Jumaat	Sabtu
Indonesian	Minggu (Portuguese)	Senin	Selasa	Rabu	Kamis	Jumat	Sabtu
Sundanese	Minggu / Minggon	Senén	Salasa	Rebo	Kemis	Jumaah	Saptu
Persian	یکشنبه yekšanbe Mehr ruz مهرروز	دوشنبه došanbe Māh ruz ماه روز	سه شنبه sešanbe Bahrām ruz بهرام روز	چهارشنبه čāhāršanbe Tir ruz تیر روز	پنجشنبه panjšanbe Hormazd ruz هرمزد روز	آدینه or جمعه ādine or djome Nāhid ruz ناهید روز	شنبه šanbe Keyvān ruz کیوان روز
Khowar	یک شمبے yak shambey	دو شمبے du shambey	سہ شمبے sey shambey	چار شمبے char shambey	پچھمبے pachhambey	آدینہ adina	شمبے shambey
Kurdish	ku	ku	ku	ku	ku	ku	ku
Old Turkic	birinç kün	ikinç kün	üçünç kün	törtinç kün	beşinç kün	altınç kün	yetinç kün
Navajo	Damóo/Damíigo (Spanish)	Damóo Biiskání Sunday has ended	Damóo dóó Naakiską́o Sunday +2 × sunrise	Damóo dóó Tááʼ Yiką́o Sunday +3 × sunrise	Damóo dóó Dį́į́ʼ Yiką́o Sunday +4 × sunrise	Ndaʼiiníísh It ends/done for the week	Yiką́o Damóo [upon] sunrise [it is] Sunday
Uzbek	Yakshanba	Dushanba	Seshanba	Chorshanba	Payshanba	Juma	Shanba
Number From One	Day Zero	Day One	Day Two	Day Three	Day Four	Day Five	Day Six
Chinese characters (and Pinyin)	星期日 Xīngqī Rì	星期一 Xīngqī Yī	星期二 Xīngqī Èr	星期三 Xīngqī Sān	星期四 Xīngqī Sì	星期五 Xīngqī Wǔ	星期六 Xīngqī Liù

Days numbered from Monday

The ISO prescribes Monday as the first day of the week with ISO-8601 for software date formats.

The Slavic, Baltic and Uralic languages (except Finnish and partially Estonian) adopted numbering but took Monday rather than Sunday as the "first day". This convention is also found in some Austronesian languages whose speakers were converted to Christianity by European missionaries.

Day Number From One	Monday Day One	Tuesday Day Two	Wednesday Day Three	Thursday Day Four	Friday Day Five	Saturday Day Six	Sunday Day Seven
ISO 8601 #	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Russian	понедельник ponedel'nik	вторник vtornik	среда sreda	четверг chetverg	пятница pyatnitsa	суббота subbota	воскресенье voskresen'ye
Belarusian	Панядзелак panyadzelak	Аўторак awtorak	Серада serada	Чацвер chats'ver	Пятніца pyatnitsa	Субота subota	Нядзеля nyadzelya
Ukrainian	понедiлок ponedilok	вiвторок vivtorok	середа sereda	четвер chetver	п'ятниця p'yatnitsya	субота subota	недiля nedilya
Bulgarian	понеделник ponedelnik	вторник vtornik	сряда sryada	четвъртък chetvărtăk	петък petăk	събота săbota	неделя nedelya
Polish	poniedziałek	wtorek	środa	czwartek	piątek	sobota	niedziela
Kashubian	pòniedzôłk	wtórk	strzoda	czwiôrtk	piątk	sobòta	niedzela
Slovak	pondelok	utorok	streda	štvrtok	piatok	sobota	nedeľa
Czech	pondělí or pondělek	úterý or úterek	středa	čtvrtek	pátek	sobota	neděle
Slovene	Ponedeljek	Torek	Sreda	Četrtek	Petek	Sobota	Nedelja
Bosnian	Ponedjeljak	Utorak	Srijeda	Četvrtak	Petak	Subota	Nedjelja
Croatian	Ponedjeljak	Utorak	Srijeda	Četvrtak	Petak	Subota	Nedjelja
Serbian	Понедељак Ponedeljak	Уторак Utorak	Среда Sreda	Четвртак Četvrtak	Петак Petak	Субота Subota	Недеља Nedelja
Macedonian	понеделник ponedelnik	вторник vtornik	среда sreda	четврток chetvrtok	петок petok	сабота sabota	недела nedela
Lithuanian	pirmadienis	antradienis	trečiadienis	ketvirtadienis	penktadienis	šeštadienis	sekmadienis
Latvian	pirmdiena	otrdiena	trešdiena	ceturtdiena	piektdiena	sestdiena	svētdiena
Hungarian	hétfő	kedd	szerda Slavic	csütörtök Slavic	péntek Slavic	szombat Slavic	vasárnap
Estonian	esmaspäev	teisipäev	kolmapäev	neljapäev	reede	laupäev	pühapäev
Mongolian (numerical)	нэг дэх өдөр neg dekh ödör	хоёр дахь өдөр hoyor dahi ödör	гурав дахь өдөр gurav dahi ödör	дөрөв дэх өдөр döröv dekh ödör	тав дахь өдөр tav dahi ödör	хагас сайн өдөр hagas sayn ödör	бүтэн сайн өдөр büten sayn ödör
Mongolian (Tibetan)	Даваа davaa	Мягмар myagmar	Лхагва lhagva	Пүрэв pürev	Баасан baasan	Бямба byamba	Ням nyam
Turkish	Pazartesi	Salı	Çarşamba	Perşembe	Cuma	Cumartesi	Pazar
Luo	Wuok tich	Tich ariyo	Tich adek	Tich ang'uen	Tich abich	Chieng' ngeso	Juma pil
Tok Pisin (Melanesian Pidgin)	mande	tunde	trinde	fonde	fraide	sarere	sande
Apma (Vanuatu)	ren bwaleh / mande	ren karu	ren katsil	ren kavet	ren kalim	lesaare	sande

Days numbered from Saturday

In Swahili the day begins at sunrise rather than sunset, and so offset by twelve hours from the Arabic and Hebrew calendar. Saturday is therefore the first day of the week, as it is the day that includes the first night of the week in Arabic.

Etymologically speaking, Swahili has two "fifth" days. The words for Saturday through Wednesday contain the Bantu-derived Swahili words for "one" through "five." The word for Thursday, Alhamisi, is of Arabic origin and means "the fifth" (day). The word for Friday, Ijumaa, is also Arabic and means (day of) "gathering" for the Friday noon prayers in Islam.

Day Number from One	Saturday Day One	Sunday Day Two	Monday Day Three	Tuesday Day Four	Wednesday Day Five	Thursday Day Six	Friday Day Seven
Swahili	jumamosi	jumapili	jumatatu	jumanne	jumatano	alhamisi	ijumaa

Mixing of numbering and planetary names

In the Žejane dialect of Istro-Romanian, lur (Monday) and virer (Friday) follow the Latin convention, while utorek (Tuesday), sredu (Wednesday), and četrtok (Thursday) follow the Slavic convention.

Day	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Istro-Romanian, Žejane dialect	lur	utorek	sredu	četrtok	virer	simbota	dumireca

There are several systems in the different Basque dialects.

Day:	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Standard Basque, Guipuscoan Basque	astelehena ("week-first")	asteartea ("week-between")	asteazkena ("week-last")	osteguna ("Ortzi/Sky day")	ostirala (see Ortzi)	larunbata ("fourth", "meeting of friends"), neskenegun ("girls' day")	igandea
Biscayne Basque	astelena ("week-first"), ilen ("Moon day")	martitzena ("Mars day")	eguaztena ("day last")	eguena ("day of days", "day of light")	barikua ("day without supper"), egubakotx	zapatua (compare with Spanish sábado from Sabbath)	domeka (from Latin Dominica [dies])

See also

Week wheel for children

• Akan names of the seven-day week, known as Nawotwe
• Bahá'í calendar (section Weekdays)
• Calculating the day of the week
• Week
• Work Week

Notes

Sunday

^☉1 From Latin Dominicus (Dominica) or Greek Κυριακή (Christian Sabbath)
^☉2 Holy Day and First-Day of the Week (Day of the Sun -> Light -> Resurrection -> Born again)(Christianity)
^☉3 Resurrection (Christianity)
^☉4 Bazaar Day
^☉5 Market Day
^☉6 No Work
^☉7 Full good day
^☉8 Borrowed from English week
^☉9 From an Old Burmese word, not of Indic origin.

Monday

^☽1 After No Work. In Russian also "Day After Week(end)" - see понедельник
^☽2 After Bazaar
^☽3 Head of Week
^☽4 Master (as in Pir, because Muhammad was born on a Monday )
^☽5 From an Old Burmese word, not of Indic origin.

Tuesday

^♂1 Thing (Assembly), of which god Tyr/Ziu was the patron.
^♂2 Second day of the week (cf. Hungarian kettő "two")
^♂4 From Arabic "ath-Thalaathaaʼ" (third day)

Wednesday

^☿1 Mid-week or Middle
^☿2 The First Fast (Christianity)

Thursday

^♃1 The day between two fasts (An Dé idir dhá aoin, contracted to An Déardaoin) (Christianity)
^♃2 Five (Arabic)

Friday

^♀1 The Fast (Celtic) or Fasting Day (Icelandic) (Christianity)
^♀2 Good Friday or Preparation (Christianity)
^♀3 Day of Faith (Islam)
^♀4 Gathering/Assembly/Meeting (Islam) – in Malta with no Islamic connotations

Saturday

^♄1 Shabbat or seventh-day Sabbath (Judeo–Christian)
^♄2 Wash or Bath day
^♄3 Sun-eve (Eve of Sunday)
^♄4 After the Gathering (Islam)
^♄5 End of the Week (Arabic Sabt = Rest)
^♄6 Week
^♄7 Half good day

Further reading

• Brown, Cecil H. (1989). "Naming the days of the week: A cross-language study of lexical acculturation". Current Anthropology. 30 (4): 536–550. doi:10.1086/203782. JSTOR 2743391.
• Falk, Michael (1999). "Astronomical Names for the Days of the Week". Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. 93: 122–133. Bibcode:1999JRASC..93..122F. doi:10.1016/j.newast.2003.07.002.
• Neugebauer, Otto (1979). Ethiopic astronomy and computus, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, philosophisch-historische klasse, sitzungsberichte, 347 (Vienna)

External links

• Days of the Week in Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese (much history of Western systems too)
• Planetary Linguistics and the Days of the Week — The Definitive Site
• Days of the week and months of the year in many different languages
• The Days of the Week
• The days of the week in various languages
• RSS feed to show names of days in Indian languages
• Days of the week in Spanish

References

Category:Units of time * Category:History of astronomy Category:History of astrology Days of the week