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Wednesday
5 dictionary results for: Wednesday
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
Wednes·day 
[wenz-dey, -dee] Pronunciation Key
[wenz-dey, -dee] Pronunciation Key –noun
| the fourth day of the week, following Tuesday. |
[Origin: bef. 950; ME Wednesdai, OE *Wédnesdæg, mutated var. of Wōdnesdæg Woden's day; c. D Woensdag, Dan onsdag; trans. of L Mercuriī diés day of Mercury]
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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| Wednes·day
(wěnz'dē, -dā') Pronunciation Key
n. Abbr. Wed. or W The fourth day of the week. [Middle English, from Old English Wōdnesdæg, Woden's day : Wōdnes, genitive sing. of Wōden, Woden; see wet-1 in Indo-European roots + dæ, day; see day.] Wednes'days adv. Word History: Days and years are natural divisions of time based on the astronomical relation of the earth and the sun, but weeks and the names for the days of the week have their source in astrology. The practice of dividing the year into seven-day units is based on the ancient astrological notion that the seven celestial bodies (the sun, the moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn) influence what happens on earth and that each controls the first hour of the day named for it. This system was brought into Hellenistic Egypt from Mesopotamia, where astrology had been practiced for millennia and where seven had always been a propitious number. The ancient Romans did not divide their calendar into weeks; they named all the days of the month in relation to the ides, calends, and nones. In A.D. 321 Constantine the Great grafted the Hellenistic astrological system onto the Roman calendar, making the first day of the week a day of rest and worship and imposing the following sequence of names on the days: Diēs Sōlis, "Sun's Day"; Diēs Lūnae, "Moon's Day"; Diēs Martis, "Mars's Day"; Diēs Mercuriī, "Mercury's Day"; Diēs Jovis, "Jove's Day" or "Jupiter's Day"; Diēs Veneris, "Venus's Day"; and Diēs Saturnī, "Saturn's Day." This new Roman system was adopted with modifications throughout most of western Europe. In the Germanic languages, such as Old English, the names of four of the Roman gods were converted into those of the corresponding Germanic gods. Therefore in Old English we have the following names (with their Modern English developments): Sunnandaeg, Sunday; Mōnandaeg, Monday; Tīwesdaeg, Tuesday (Tiu, like Mars, was a god of war); Wōdnesdaeg, Wednesday (Woden, like Mercury, was quick and eloquent); Thunresdaeg, Thursday (Thunor in Old English or Thor in Old Norse, like Jupiter, was lord of the sky; Old Norse Thōrsdagr influenced the English form); Frīgedaeg, Friday (Frigg, like Venus, was the goddess of love); and Saeternesdaeg, Saturday. |
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Wednesday
Wednesday
O.E. Wodnesdæg "Woden's day," a Gmc. loan-translation of L. dies Mercurii "day of Mercury" (cf. O.N. Oðinsdagr, Swed. Onsdag, O.Fris. Wonsdei, M.Du. Wudensdach). For Woden, see Odin. Contracted pronunciation is recorded from 15c. The Odin-based name is missing in Ger. (mittwoch, from O.H.G. mittwocha, lit. "mid-week"), probably by infl. of Gothic, which seems to have adopted a pure ecclesiastical (i.e. non-astrological) week from Gk. missionaries. The Gothic model also seems to be the source of Pol. sroda, Rus. sreda "Wednesday," lit. "middle."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
| wednesday | |
noun | |
| the fourth day of the week; the third working day |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Wednesday
Wednes"day\ (?; 48), n. [OE. wednesdai, wodnesdei, AS. W[=o]dnes d[ae]g, i. e., Woden's day (a translation of L. dies Mercurii); fr. W[=o]den the highest god of the Teutonic peoples, but identified with the Roman god Mercury; akin to OS. W[=o]dan, OHG. Wuotan, Icel. O[eth]inn, D. woensdag Wednesday, Icel. [=o][eth]insdagr, Dan. & Sw. onsdag. See Day, and cf. Woden, Wood, a.] The fourth day of the week; the next day after Tuesday. Ash Wednesday. See in the Vocabulary.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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