Origin of the names of the days
The names of the days are in some cases derived from Teutonic deities or, such as in Romance languages, from Roman deities. The early Romans, around the first century, used Saturday as the first day of the week. As the worshipping of the Sun increased, the Sun's day (Sunday) advanced from position of the second day to the first day of the week (and saturday became the seventh day).
Sunday
The name comes from the Latin
dies solis, meaning "sun's day": the name of a pagan Roman holiday. It is also called
Dominica (Latin), the Day of God. The Romance languages, languages derived from the ancient Latin language (such as French, Spanish, and Italian), retain the root.
French:
dimanche; Italian:
domenica; Spanish:
domingo
German:
Sonntag; Dutch:
zondag. [both: 'sun-day']
Monday
The name comes from the Anglo-Saxon
monandaeg, "the moon's day". This second day was sacred to the
goddess of the moon.
French:
lundi; Italian:
lunedi. Spanish:
lunes. [from
Luna, "Moon"]
German:
Montag; Dutch:
maandag. [both: 'moon-day']
Tuesday
This day was named after the Norse god
Tyr. The Romans named this day after their war-
god Mars:
dies Martis.
French:
mardi; Italian:
martedi; Spanish:
martes.
The Germans call
Dienstag (meaning "Assembly Day"), in The Netherlands it is known as
dinsdag, in Danmark as
tirsdag and in Sweden
tisdag.
Wednesday
The day named to honor Wodan (
Odin).
The Romans called it
dies Mercurii, after their
god Mercury.
French:
mercredi; Italian:
mercoledi; Spanish:
miércoles.
German:
Mittwoch; Dutch:
woensdag.
Thursday
The day named after the Norse
god Thor. In the Norse languages this day is called
Torsdag.
The Romans named this day
dies Jovis ("Jove's Day"), after
Jove or
Jupiter, their most important god.
French:
jeudi; Italian:
giovedi; Spanish:
jueves.
German:
Donnerstag; Dutch:
donderdag.
Friday
The day in honor of the Norse
goddess Frigg.
In Old High German this day was called
frigedag.
To the Romans this day was sacred to the goddess
Venus, and was known as
dies veneris.
French:
vendredi; Italian:
venerdi; Spanish:
viernes.
German:
Freitag ; Dutch:
vrijdag.
Saturday
This day was called
dies Saturni, "Saturn's Day", by the ancient Romans in honor of
Saturn. In Anglo-Saxon:
sater daeg.
French:
samedi; Italian:
sabato; Spanish:
sábádo.
German:
Samstag; Dutch:
zaterdag.
Swedish:
Lördag; and in Danish and Norse:
Lørdag ("washing day").