Origin of the Days of the Week

How did we arrive at the days of the week we have today? Learn about the origin of the day of the week and what it was initially called in old English.

Sunday

Sunday is in old English called the ‘day of the sun’. It was translated directly from the Latin word “dies Solis”.

French – Demerch

Monday

Monday is from the old English word ‘day of the moon.’ It is equally translated from the Latin word ‘lunae dies’

French – Lundi

Tuesday

The word Tuesday is originally translated from the Latin word for “days of mars”, “dies marti”. The word is named after the Germanic god, ‘tiv’.

 French – Mardi

Wednesday

Wednesday originated from the old English word ‘day of mercury’. It is translated from the Latin word ‘Mercurii dies’, named after the Germanic god Odin.

French – Mercredi

Thursday

This is the ‘day of thunder’ in the old English. It is translated from the Latin “Javis dies”, “day of Jupiter”. Jupiter was believed to be the god associated with thunder.

French – Jeudi

Friday

This is originally translated from the Latin word ‘Veneris dies’, the day of the planet Venus. It is named after the Germanic goddess Frigga.

French – Vendredi

Saturday

Saturday is translated from the Latin ‘Saturni dies’, originally ‘day of Saturn’.

French – Samedi