Names of the days of the week

"Days of the week" redirects here. For the song by Stone Temple Pilots, see Days of the Week (song).

Italian cameo bracelet representing the days of the week, corresponding to the planets as Olympian 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 (Walters Art Museum)

The days of the week have been named after the seven planets of classical astronomy, since the Roman period. They are also numbered, beginning at Sunday, Monday or Saturday depending on the society and tradition.

Days named after planets

Greco-Roman tradition

Further information: Seven-day week and Planetary hours

The earliest attestation of a seven-day week associated with heavenly luminaries is in the title of a lost work by Plutarch (46-120CE) titled Why are the days named after the planets reckoned in a different order from the actual order? Between the 1st and 3rd centuries the Roman Empire gradually replaced the eight-day Roman nundinal cycle with the seven-day week. The order of the days was Sun, Moon, Ares, Hermes, Zeus, Aphrodite, and Cronos, named after the heavenly bodies that presided over the first daylight hour of each day, according to hellenistic astrology. From Greece the planetary week names passed to the Romans, and from Latin to other languages of southern and western Europe, and to other languages later influenced by them.

Day: (see Irregularities)	Sunday Sōl (Sun)	Monday Luna (Moon)	Tuesday Mars (Mars)	Wednesday Mercurius (Mercury)	Thursday Iuppiter (Jupiter)	Friday Venus (Venus)	Saturday Saturnus (Saturn)
Ancient 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 Jovis	dies Veneris	dies Saturnī
Italian	domenica	lunedì	martedì	mercoledì	giovedì	venerdì	sabato
Old Portuguese	domingo	lues	martes	mércores	joves	vernes	sábado
Portuguese	domingo	segunda-feira	terça-feira	quarta-feira	quinta-feira	sexta-feira	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
Galician	domingo	luns	martes	mércores	xoves	venres	sábado
Catalan	diumenge	dilluns	dimarts	dimecres	dijous	divendres	dissabte
Asturian	domingu	llunes	martes	miércoles	xueves	vienres	sábadu
Friulian	domenie	lunis	martars	miercus	joibe	vinars	sabide
Neapolitan	Dummeneca	Lunnerì	Marterì	Miercurì	Gioverì	Viernarì	Sabbato
Filipino	Linggo	Lunes	Martes	Miyerkules	Huwebes	Biyernes	Sabado
Sardinian	dominiga	lunis	martis	mercuris	giobia	chenabura	sappadu
Interlingua	Dominica	Lunedi	Martedi	Mercuridi	Jovedi	Venerdi	Sabbato
Ido	Sundio	Lundio	Mardio	Merkurdio	Jovdio	Venerdio	Saturdio
Esperanto	dimanĉo	lundo	mardo	merkredo	ĵaŭdo	vendredo	sabato
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	Jerdrein	Jeheiney	Jesarn
Albanian	E diel	E hënë	E martë	E mërkurë	E enjte	E premte	E shtunë
Türkçe	Pazar	Pazartesi	Salı	Çarşamba	Perşembe	Cuma	Cumartesi

Gaelic-Irish traditions

In pre-Christian Gaelic-Irish society, time was measured in "one-, three-, five-, ten-, or fifteen-day periods; the seven-day week was entirely unknown." MS. 17 (now held at St. John's College, Oxford), dating at least from 1043, records five week-day lists, which it names as follows: secundum Hebreos (according to the Hebrews); secundum antiquos gentiles (according to the ancient gentiles, i.e., Romans); secundum Siluestrum papam (according to Pope Sylvester, i.e., a list derived from the apocryphal Acta Syluestri); secundum Anglos (according to the English); secundum Scottos (according to the Irish). Each term begins with the word Diu, Classical Old Irish for dia, day. According to Ó Cróinín, "we have a clear reflex of the Indo-European nominative singular, with a lengthened grade, giving archaic Old Irish diu; it is suggested that what we have in the Oxford list and in Cormac's Glossary is the oldest form of Old Irish dia, representing the old nominative case of the noun in adverbial usage."

The names in the Irish list are:

• dies scrol - Sunday. The word scrol is glossed in Sanas Cormaic as Scroll .i. soillsi, unde est aput Scottos diu srol.i. dies solis / Sroll, that is brightness, whence "diu srol" among the Irish, that is Sunday.

• Diu luna - Monday. Ó Cróinín has Diu luna as "represent[ing] the transitional form between Latin dies lunae and the later, Classical Old Irish dia luain ... a translation of, not a calque on, the Latin ... [It] would seem to reflect a pre-assimilation state in respect of both words," again demonstrating the antiquity of the forms. It is now rendered as Dia luain.

• Diu mart - Tuesday. "The Irish word perhaps derives from Latin forms where cases other than the genitive were used, e.g., Marte."

• Diu iath - Wednesday. A form unique to Irish, meaning uncertain. See following.

• Diu eathamon - Thursday. A form unique to Irish. Ó Cróinín writes, "I suggest that it means simply 'on Thursday' ... it is temporal dat. of an n-stem (nom. sg. etham, gen. sg. ethamon - as in our Oxford list - and acc./dat. sg. ethamain)." (2003, p. 17) He furthermore suggests that etham ('arable land') "may be a noun of agency from ith (gen. sg. etho), with a meaning like corn-maker or some such thing; Diu eathamon might then be a day for sowing seed in a weekly regimen of activities such as we find in Críth Gablach." A "very old" word for Wednesday, Mercúir (borrowed from the Latin (dies) Mercurii), does occur in early Leinster poems but Ó Cróinín is of the belief that Diu eathamon "reflects a still older Irish word for 'Wednesday.'"

• Diu triach - Friday. A form unique to Irish, its meaning unclear.

• Diu satur - Saturday. Error for Diu Saturn, because of omission of the n-stroke.

The form Ethomuin is found in Rawlinson B 502.

Germanic tradition

Further information: Germanic calendar

The Germanic peoples adapted the system introduced by the Romans but glossed their indigenous gods over the Roman deities (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 Scandinavian languages were not calqued from Latin directly, but taken from the West Germanic names.

• Sunday: Old English Sunnandæg (pronounced [sun.nan.dæg] or [sun.nan.dæj), 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 [mon.nan.dæg] or [mon.nan.dæj'), 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 [ti.wes.dæg] or [ti.wes.dæj], 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 [woːd.nes.dæg] or [woːd.nes.dæj) 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^{[citation needed]}. 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^{[citation needed]}. The Icelandic Miðviku, German Mittwoch and Finnish keskiviikko all mean mid-week.
• Thursday: Old English Þūnresdæg (pronounced [θuːn.res.dæg] or [θuːn.res.dæj]), meaning 'Þunor's day'. Þunor means thunder or its personification, the Norse god known in Modern English as Thor. Similarly German Donnerstag ('thunder's day') and Scandinavian Torsdag ('Thor's day'). Thor's day corresponds to Latin dies Iovis, "day of Jupiter".
• Friday: Old English Frīgedæg (pronounced [fri.je.dæg] or [fri.je.dæj]), meaning the day of the Norse 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 [sæ.tur.nes.dæg] or [sæ.tur.nes.dæj]). 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."

Day: (see Irregularities)	Sunday Sunna/Sól	Monday Mona/Máni	Tuesday Tiw/Tyr	Wednesday Woden/Odin	Thursday Thunor/Thor	Friday Frige or Freya	Saturday Saturn
Old English	Sunnandæg	Mōnandæg	Tīwesdæg	Wōdnesdæg	Þunresdæg	Frīgedæg	Sæternesdæg
Old High German	Sunnûntag	Mânetag	Zîestag	Wôdanstag (Wuotanstag)	Donarestag	Frîjatag	Sunnûnâband or Sambaztag
German	Sonntag	Montag	Dienstag or Ziestag (Swiss German)	Mittwoch	Donnerstag	Freitag	Sonnabend or Samstag
Dutch	zondag	maandag	dinsdag	woensdag	donderdag	vrijdag	zaterdag
Scots Language	Saubath/Sunday	Monanday	Tysday	Wadensday	Fuirsday	Friday	Seturday
Afrikaans	Sondag	Maandag	Dinsdag	Woensdag	Donderdag	Vrydag	Saterdag
West Frisian	Snein	Moandei	Tiisdei	Woansdei	Tongersdei	Freed	Sneon or Saterdei
Old Norse	sunnudagr	mánadagr	tysdagr	óðinsdagr	þórsdagr	frjádagr	laugardagr or sunnunótt
Faroese	sunnudagur	mánadagur	týsdagur	mikudagur	hósdagur or tórsdagur	fríggjadagur	leygardagur
Icelandic	sunnudagur	mánudagur	þriðjudagur	miðvikudagur	fimmtudagur	föstudagur	laugardagur
Norwegian, Bokmål	søndag	mandag	tirsdag	onsdag	torsdag	fredag	lørdag
Norwegian, Nynorsk	sundag	måndag	tysdag	onsdag	torsdag	fredag	laurdag
Danish	søndag	mandag	tirsdag	onsdag	torsdag	fredag	lørdag
Swedish	söndag	måndag	tisdag	onsdag	torsdag	fredag	lördag
Finnish	sunnuntai	maanantai	tiistai	keskiviikko	torstai	perjantai	lauantai
Estonian	pühapäev	esmaspäev	teisipäev	kolmapäev	neljapäev	reede	laupäev

Indian astrology

Main article: Navagraha

Day	Sunday Surya (the Sun)	Monday Soma (the Moon)	Tuesday Mangala (Mars)	Wednesday Budha (Mercury)	Thursday Guru (Jupiter)	Friday Shukra (Venus)	Saturday Shani (Saturn)
Sanskrit	भानुवासरम् Bhaan Vāsaram	इन्दुवासरम् Indu Vāsaram	भौमवासरम् Bhauma Vāsaram	सौम्यवासरम् Saumya Vāsaram	गुरूवासरम Bruhaspathi/Guru Vāsaram	भृगुवासरम् Bhrgu Vāsaram	स्थिरवासरम् Sthira Vāsaram
Hindi	रविवार Ravivār	सोमवार Somavār	मंगलवार Mangalavār	बुधवार Budhavār	गुरूवार Guruvār	शुक्रवार Shukravār	शनिवार Shanivār
Sinhala	ඉරිදා Iridaa	සදුදා Sandudaa	අඟහරැවදා Anngaharuwadaa	බදාදා Badaadaa	බූරහස්පතින්දා Brahaspathindaa	සිකුරාදා Sikuradaa	සෙනසුරාදා Senasuraadaa
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
Urdu	Itwār اتوار	Pīr پیر or Somwar سوموار	Mangal منگل	Budh بدھ	Jumā-rāt جمعراتRaat = Eve	Jum'ah جمعہ	Sanīchar سنیچرor ہفتہ Haftah
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
Burmese	တနင်္ဂနွေ IPA: [tənɪ́ɴ ɡənwè] (Tananganve)	တနင်္လာ IPA: [tənɪ́ɴ là] (Tanangla)	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 [ŋoa ətɜ̀t] from Sans. āditya	တ္ၚဲ စန် [ŋoa cɔn] from Sans. candra	တ္ၚဲ အၚါ [ŋoa əŋɛ̀a] from Sans. aṅgāra	တ္ၚဲ ဗုဒ္ဓဝါ [oa 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 ʔaatɨt]	ថ្ងៃចន្ទ [tŋaj can]	ថ្ងៃអង្គារ [tŋaj ʔɑŋkie]	ថ្ងៃពុធ [tŋaj put]	ថ្ងៃព្រហស្បត្ណិ [tŋaj prɔhoah]	ថ្ងៃសុក្រ [tŋaj sok]	ថ្ងៃសៅរ៍ [tŋaj sav]
Gujarati	રવિવાર Ravivār	સોમવાર Somvār	મંગળવાર Mangaḷvār	બુધવાર Budhvār	ગુરૂવાર Guruvār	શુક્રવાર Shukravār	શનિવાર Shanivār
Maldivian	އާދީއްތަ Aadheettha	ހޯމަ Homa	އަންގާރަ Angaara	ބުދަ Budha	ބުރާސްފަތި Buraasfathi	ހުކުރު Hukuru	ހޮނިހިރު Honihiru
Tamil	ஞாயிற்று கிழமை Nyāyitru kizhamai	திங்கட் கிழமை Thingat kizhamai	செவ்வாய்க் கிழமை Sevvāi kizhamai	புதன்க் கிழமை Budhan kizhamai	வியாழக் கிழமை Vyāzha kizhamai	வெள்ளிக் கிழமை Velli kizhamai	சனிக் கிழமை Shani kizhamai
Telugu	ఆదివారం Aadi Vāram	సోమవారం Soma Vāram	మంగళవారం Mangala Vāram	బుధవారం Budha Vāram	గురువారం Bestha/Guru/Lakshmi Vāram	శుక్రవారం Shukra Vāram	శనివారం Shani Vāram
Malayalam	ഞായര്‍ Njyāyar	തിങ്കള്‍ Thingal	ചൊവ്വ Chouvva	ബുധന്‍ Budhan	വ്യാഴം Vzyāzham	വെള്ളി Velli	ശനി Sheni
Kannada	ಭಾನುವಾರ Bhanu Vaara	ಸೋಮವಾರ Soma Vaara	ಮಂಗಳವಾರ Mangala Vaara	ಬುಧವಾರ Budha Vaara	ಗುರುವಾರ Guru Vaara	ಶುಕ್ರವಾರ Shukra Vaara	ಶನಿವಾರ Shani Vaara
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 adiya	сумъяа sumiya	ангараг angarag	буд bud	бархабадь barhasbadi	сугар sugar	санчир sanchir
Javanese	Raditya	Soma	Anggara	Buda	Respati	Sukra	Tumpek
Balinese	Redite	Coma	Anggara	Buda	Wraspati	Sukra	Saniscara
Punjabi	ਐਤਵਾਰ etvār	ਸੋਮਵਾਰ sōmvār	ਮੰਗਲਵਾਰ mangalvār	ਬੁੱਧਵਾਰ búdvār	ਵੀਰਵਾਰ vīrvār	ਸ਼ੁੱਕਰਵਾਰ shukkarvār	ਸ਼ਨਿੱਚਰਵਾਰ shaniccharvār

East Asian Seven Luminaries

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), which consists of the Sun, Moon and the five planets visible to the naked eye. The five planets are named after the five elements in traditional East Asian philosophy: Fire (Mars), Water (Mercury), Wood (Jupiter), Metal (Venus), and Earth (Saturn). The earliest known reference in East Asia to the seven-day week in its current order and name is the writings attributed to the Chinese astrologer Fan Ning, who lived in the late 4th century of Jin Dynasty.^{[citation needed]} Later diffusions from the Manichaeans are documented with the writings of the Chinese Buddhist monk Yi Jing and the Ceylonese Buddhist monk Bu Kong of the 8th century under the Tang Dynasty. 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 numbered one through six, with the reference to the Sun remaining for Sunday （星期日）.

For more information on the Chinese ten-day week, see Week#China, Japan.

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 and Elements	Sun (日)	Moon (月)	Fire (火)	Water (水)	Tree/Wood (木)	Gold/Metal (金)	Earth (土)
Chinese (now obsolete)	日曜日 Rìyàorì	月曜日 Yuèyàorì	火曜日 Huǒyàorì	水曜日 Shuǐyàorì	木曜日 Mùyàorì	金曜日 Jīnyàorì	土曜日 Tǔyàorì
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 Iryoil	월요일 Woryoil	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།

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. This may be the origin of the present Portuguese numbered system. Martin also tried to replace the names of the planets, but was not successful. In the Middle Ages, Galician-Portuguese retained both systems. The Roman gods' names are still used in Galician.

In the Hebrew and Islamic calendars the days extend from sunset to sunset. Thus, Jewish Shabbat starts at sunset on Friday and extends into Saturday nightfall when three stars become visible. The first day of the Islamic calendar, yaum al-ahad, starts on Saturday after sunset and extends to sunset on Sunday.

Icelandic is notably divergent, 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 Pagan names generally are retained.

Day (see Irregularities)	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
Greek	Κυριακή Kyriakí	Δευτέρα Dheftéra	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-thulathā’	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-Hamis	Il-Gimgħa	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 yekshanbe	دوشنبه doshanbe	سه شنبه seshanbe	چهارشنبه chahârshanbe	پنجشنبه panjshanbe	آدینه âdineh or جمعه jome	شنبه shanbe (Night & Day) shabâne ruz
Khowar	یک شمبے yak shambey	دو شمبے du shambey	سہ شمبے sey shambey	چار شمبے char shambey	پچھمبے pachhambey	آدینہ adina	شمبے shambey
Kurdish	Yekşem	Duşem	Sêşem	Çarşem	Pêncşem	În	Şemî
Old Turkic	birinç kün	ikinç kün	üçünç kün	törtinç kün	beşinç kün	altınç kün	yetinç kün
Navajo	Damóo	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

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".

Chinese Sunday means "week day" (星期日 or 星期天). Monday is named literally "first day of the (seven-day) week cycle", Tuesday is "second day of the (seven-day) week cycle," and so on. When China adopted the Western calendar Sunday was at the beginning of the calendar week but today Monday is preferred.

A second way to refer to the days of the week is to use the word zhōu (周), meaning "cycle." Therefore Sunday is referred to as zhōumò (周末), meaning "cycle's end" and Monday to Saturday are termed accordingly zhōuyī (周一) "first of cycle," zhōu'èr (周二) "second of cycle," and etc.

Another Chinese numbering system, found in spoken Mandarin and in southern dialects/languages (e.g. Wu, Cantonese and Min), refers to Sunday as the "day of worship" (lǐbàirì 禮拜日 or lǐbàitiān 禮拜天) and numbers the other days "first [day after] worship" (Monday) through to "sixth [day after] worship" (Saturday). The Chinese word used for "worship" is associated with Christian and Muslim worship.

Day (see Irregularities)	Monday First Day	Tuesday Second Day	Wednesday Third Day	Thursday Fourth Day	Friday Fifth Day	Saturday Sixth Day	Sunday Seventh Day
ISO 8601 #	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Russian	понедельник ponedel'nik	вторник vtornik	среда sreda	четверг chetverg	пятница pyatnica	суббота subbota	воскресенье voskresen'je
Belarusian	Панядзелак panyadzelak	Аўторак autorak	Серада serada	Чацьвер 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
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	vasárnap
Estonian	esmaspäev	teisipäev	kolmapäev	neljapäev	reede	laupäev	pühapäev
Chinese characters (in Pinyin)	星期一 xīngqīyī	星期二 xīngqī'èr	星期三 xīngqīsān	星期四 xīngqīsì	星期五 xīngqīwǔ	星期六 xīngqīliù	星期日 or 星期天 xīngqīrì or xīngqítiān
Mongolian (numerical)	нэг дэх өдөр neg deh odor	хоёр дахь өдөр hoyor dahi odor	гурав дахь өдөр gurav dahi odor	дөрөв дэх өдөр dorov deh odor	тав дахь өдөр tav dahi odor	хагас сайн өдөр hagas sain odor	бүтэн сайн өдөр buten sain odor
Mongolian (Tibetan)	Даваа davaa	Мягмар myagmar	Лхагва lkhagva	Пүрэв purev	Баасан baasan	Бямба byamba	Ням nyam
Turkish	Pazartesi	Salı	Çarşamba	Perşembe	Cuma	Cumartesi	Pazar

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 (see Irregularities)	Saturday First Day	Sunday Second Day	Monday Third Day	Tuesday Fourth Day	Wednesday Fifth Day	Thursday Fifth Day	Friday Day of Congregational Prayers
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: (see Irregularities)	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])

Notes

Sunday

^☉1 From Latin dominicus "of the Lord" (Christian Sabbath)
^☉2 Holy Day (Christianity)
^☉3 Resurrection (Christianity)
^☉4 Bazaar Day
^☉5 Market Day
^☉6 No Work
^☉7 Full good day

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^{[citation needed]})

Tuesday

^♂1 Thing (Assembly), of which god Tyr/Ziu was the patron.
^♂2 Second day of the week (cf. Hungarian kettő "two")

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)

Saturday

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

See also

• Akan names of the seven-day week, known as Nawotwe
• Week Wheel for Children
• Work Week
• Week
• Seven-day week
• Calculating the day of the week

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