Meaning and Origin
What does the name Wednesday mean? Keep reading to find the user submitted meanings, dictionary definitions, and more.
User Submitted Origins
Etymology: OE. wednesdai wodnesdei, AS. Wōdnes dæg, i. e., Woden's day (a translation of L. dies Mercurii); fr. Wōden the highest god of the Teutonic peoples, but identified with the Roman god Mercury; akin to OS. Wōdan, OHG. Wuotan, Icel. Oðinn, D. woensdag Wednesday, Icel. ōðinsdagr, Dan. & Sw. onsdag. See Day, and cf. Woden Wood (a.)
- The fourth day of the week; the third working day
From Middle English Wednesday, Wednesdai, Wodnesdei, from Old English wōdnesdæġ (“Wednesday”), from Proto-Germanic *Wōdanas dagaz, a calque (interpretātiō germānica) of Latin diēs Mercuriī (“day of Mercury”) and Koine Ancient Greek ἡμέρα (hēméra, “day”) Ἑρμοῦ (Hermoû, “of Hermes”), via an association of the god Odin (Woden) with Mercury and Hermes.
Cognate with West Frisian woansdei (“Wednesday”), Dutch woensdag (“Wednesday”), Dutch Low Saxon woonsdag (“Wednesday”), dialectal German Wodenstag (“Wednesday”), Danish onsdag (“Wednesday”), Norwegian Bokmål onsdag (“Wednesday”), Swedish onsdag (“Wednesday”).
- (Britain, soccer) nickname of Sheffield Wednesday of the Football League.
- The of the week in many religious traditions, and the of the week in systems using the ISO 8601 norm; it follows Tuesday and precedes Thursday.
Wednesday was also found in the following language(s): Middle English