monday

Where does the word "monday" come from? It comes from Latin dies Lunae, passing through Old English before entering English (1200s).

Monday’s story begins in Latin: dies Lunae meant “Moon's day.” 'day of the Moon'; the seven-day planetary week spread through the Roman world in the 1st century AD, and a graffito at Pompeii lists the days by their planetary gods. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Old English as Mōnandæg. Germanic peoples translated the Latin planetary day names into their own tongue, mōna being 'moon'. It reached English by 1200s as Monday. Craft workers long skipped work after Sunday's drinking, a custom called 'Saint Monday'; Benjamin Franklin boasted of 'never making a St. Monday' as a young London printer in the 1720s. Today, monday means the day of the week after Sunday.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · classical dies Lunae "Moon's day", 'day of the Moon'; the seven-day planetary week spread through the Roman world in the 1st century AD, and a graffito at Pompeii lists the days by their planetary gods.
2. Stage 2 · Old English · medieval Mōnandæg "Moon's day", Germanic peoples translated the Latin planetary day names into their own tongue, mōna being 'moon'.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1200s Monday "second day of the week", craft workers long skipped work after Sunday's drinking, a custom called 'Saint Monday'; Benjamin Franklin boasted of 'never making a St. Monday' as a young London printer in the 1720s.