Friday

Friday is the weekday between Thursday and Saturday.

In much of North and South America, where most countries (including the U.S. and Canada) consider the calendar week to begin on Sunday, Friday is the sixth day of the week. In other places, where the week is considered to begin on Saturday or Monday, Friday is the seventh or fifth day of the week.

Regardless of when the week officially begins, in many places Friday is considered the fifth and final day of the workweek, the five-day span from Monday to Friday during which many people work, with Saturday and Sunday considered the weekend. Friday evening is often considered the start of the weekend (though Friday is still considered a weekday).

People famously love Friday (TGIF!) because it’s when the workweek (or school week) ends and the weekend begins. Friday is associated with the anticipation of rest, relaxation, and freedom from responsibility. For that reason, people sometimes take things a bit easier on Fridays. Casual Fridays are Fridays on which employees can dress less formally than is usually required.

The word Fridays can be used as an adverb meaning every Friday or on Fridays, as in I have off Fridays or The shop is closed Fridays. 

To indicate the general time of day during which something will happen on a Friday, the word can be followed by the general time, as in Friday morning, Friday afternoon, Friday evening, and Friday night.

Example: After I finish work on Friday, I love to go home, order pizza, change into my pajamas, and stay up late watching movies.

The first records of the word Friday come from before 1000. It comes from the Old English Frīgedæg, meaning “Freya‘s day.” In Latin, the name for the day we call Friday is dies Veneris, meaning “Venus’s day,” referring to the Roman goddess of love. However, the name of the day in many languages is instead based on the name of one of two goddesses from Norse mythology, either the love goddess Freya or chief goddess Frigg (or Frigga), wife of Odin.

Friday is just one of the days of the week named after a mythological figure. Tuesday derives its name from Tiu, war god of Anglo-Saxon mythology. Wednesday gets its name from Woden, the Anglo-Saxon equivalent of Odin. Thursday is named for Thor, hammer-wielding god of thunder (and son of Odin).

In Islam, Friday is a day of worship.

In Christianity, Good Friday is the Friday before Easter that marks the death of Jesus.

In U.S. history, Black Friday refers to September 24, 1869, the date of a financial panic sparked by gold speculators. The term Black Friday is more commonly known as the informal name for the day after Thanksgiving, on which retailers offer special sales to mark the start of the holiday shopping season.

The date Friday the 13th is popularly associated with superstitions about bad luck or evil occurrences.

If you’re curious to know more about the history behind the word Friday, just read our article on the name’s fascinating origins.

What are some other forms related to Friday?

• Fridays (plural noun, adverb)
• Fri (abbreviation)
• Fri. (abbreviation)

What are some words that share a root or word element with Friday? 

• casual Friday
• Good Friday
• Black Friday
• Friday the 13th
• day
• TGIF

What are some words that often get used in discussing Friday?

• weekday
• weekend
• end
• week
• workday
• workweek
• morning
• afternoon
• night
• Thursday
• Saturday

People love and look forward to Friday because it’s the unofficial start of the weekend.

The only thing better than a Friday is a Friday before a long weekend. #TGIF

— Emily James (@emmjames23) August 30, 2013

Friday is almost here! Super excited

— FlowerChild🌻 (@JustQueeninn_) January 13, 2021

it’s almost friday!! how’s everyone’s thursday goin? ☺️

— banshee 🦇 (@bittybanshee) January 14, 2021

Which of the following mythological figures might Friday be named for?

A. Hera
B. Freya
C. Athena
D. Demeter

Friday the 13th refers to a calendar date superstitiously associated with bad luck and evil doings.

When the 13th day of any month falls on a Friday, generally referred to as Friday the 13th, it is popularly believed that it will bring bad luck, terrible occurrences, and even fatal accidents.

The exact origins of Friday the 13th, as a term and superstition, are unclear.

Anthropology professor Phillips Stevens Jr. has argued that fear of the date may have been inspired in the Middle Ages surrounding Christian beliefs about the death of Jesus Christ. According to Stevens, Jesus’s Last Supper is said to have had 13 participants, including Jesus, and occurred on the evening before his crucifixion on a Friday, leading to dark associations between Friday and the number 13.

Other theories point more generally to superstitions surrounding the number 13 as an unlucky number and Friday as an unlucky day of the week.

Friday the 13th notably appeared in the early 20th century with Thomas Lawson’s 1907 novel Friday, the Thirteenth, a story about a broker using his superstitious beliefs to win big in the stock market.

The term and superstition rose to great prominence in 1980 with the release of the slasher horror film Friday the 13th, starring the undead, machete-wielding, hockey goalie mask-wearing murderer Jason Voorhees (first played by Ari Lehman). In the film, Friday the 13th is referred to as “Jason’s birthday,” and in the decades since, 12 Friday the 13th sequels, a comic book and TV series, and various memorabilia have cemented the association between the franchise and Friday the 13th.

Scientists have explored how people who think Friday the 13th is an unlucky day may be priming themselves for unlucky-seeming episodes on the day, à la self-fulfilling prophecy, but the day is not statistically worse than other days.

Friday the 13th, which occurs whenever the 13th of any month falls on a Friday, is described as a day when bad things happen in the popular imagination and culture, especially when a Friday the 13th falls in October before Halloween. Halloween merchandise and content often incorporate Friday the 13th for spooky effects.

Popular articles on the cultural phenomenon circulate online on Friday the 13th dates, as do jokes and casual references on social media.

People may humorously blame the day for setbacks in speech and on social media (e.g., Of course I got in a car accident today, it’s Friday the 13th). Other people take their superstitions more seriously and avoid risks (e.g., It’s Friday the 13th, so I’m not going to apply for that job until tomorrow just in case.).

Friday the 13th is commonly bundled with other superstitions (e.g., Oh no, I saw a black cat today and it’s Friday the 13th!).

Due to the popularity of the film character Jason Voorhees, the term Friday the 13th is often used to refer to the movies and their horror tropes. For example, if a group of teenagers is camped out in the woods and hears a sound in the distance, one could say, “Be careful, this seems like a Friday the 13th situation.”

Fear of Friday the 13th is sometimes referred to as paraskevidekatriaphobia, which began as a deliberately fanciful coinage.

More examples of Friday the 13th:

“Art Bell, a self-proclaimed expert on the paranormal who hosted a popular syndicated radio show for decades, has died at the age of 72 — on Friday the 13th, appropriately enough.”
—Thom Geier, The Wrap, April 2018

This content is not meant to be a formal definition of this term. Rather, it is an informal summary that seeks to provide supplemental information and context important to know or keep in mind about the term’s history, meaning, and usage.