Days of the week

word origins

Nobody really knows why there

are seven days in a week. Possibly

could be that there was one day of the

week for each of the seven visible

planets: Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury,

Venus, Jupiter and Saturn.

Monday Monday is from old English Mondaeg

and means “day of the Moon”. It was

dedicated to the Moon.

Tuesday Tuesday is an Anglo-Saxon name

honouring the god of war called Tiw.

It is pronounced “tue”. It was

dedicated to Mars.

Wednesday Wednesday is an Anglo- Saxon name

honouring the god Odin or Woden. It

was dedicated to Mercury.

Thursday Thursday is an Anglo-Saxon name and

means “day of thunder”. It was

dedicated to Jupiter.

Friday Friday is from old English Frigedaeg,

and is named after Norse the goddess

“Frig” who was the wife of Odin. It

was dedicated to Venus.

Saturday Saturday is named after the Roman

god “Saturn”.

Sunday Sunday means “day of the sun”. It was

dedicated to the Sun.