Today it’s Thursday! Yes, but…why is it so called?

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5a-days20of20the20weekEvery day we use words which date back to many centuries ago, without thinking about their origins. Have you ever wondered why the days of the week are named as they are?

Here we give you some examples of the etymology of the days of the week. You can participate and leave us a comment with the etymology of any day of the week in your mother tongue. Let’s find it out together!

Sunday

Its origins come from the Latin dies solis, meaning “the sun’s day”. It was also called domenica “the day of God”.

French: dimanche; Italian: domenica; Spanish: domingo; German: Sonntag.

Monday

It refers to the Anglo-Saxon monandaeg, “the moon’s day”. The Romans called it dies lunae.

French: lundi; Italian: lunedì; Spanish: lunes; German: Montag.

Tuesday

In English it is so called because of the Norse god, Tyr (also known as Tiwaz and Tiw), who was an ancient god of war. In Romance languages it derives from dies martis, “the day of Mars”, the Roman god of war.

French: mardi; Italian: martedì; Spanish: martes; German: Dienstag;

Wednesday

It comes from the name of the Anglo-Saxon god Woden. In Latin it was dies mercurii after the Roman god Mercury.

French: mercredi; Italian: mercoledi; Spanish: miércoles; German: Mittwoch;

Thursday

“Thor”, one of the most famous gods of all times, is the inspiration for this day. In Latin it was dies jovis, which means “Jupiter’s day”.

French: jeudi; Italian: giovedì; Spanish: jueves; German: Donnerstag;

Friday

In most Romance languages Friday is related to Latin dies Veneris or “day of Venus”. Meanwhile from the old English Frīġedæġ, Friday means the “day of Frigg” (from the old English goddess Frige associated with the Roman goddess Venus).

Saturday

And the seventh day of the week is the only one in English with a Roman origin, named after the god Saturn. In Scandinavian countries it is called lördag, “lørdag,” and laurdag. This derives from the old word laugr or laug, whose meaning is bath.