weekend

Where does the word "weekend" come from? It comes from English week-end, and was adopted directly into English (1900s).

Weekend’s story begins in English: week-end meant “Saturday afternoon to Monday.” A Midlands and northern term; Notes and Queries in 1879 reported that in Staffordshire someone who went away from Saturday afternoon to Sunday was 'spending his week-end' there. It reached English by 1900s as weekend. Spread with the Saturday half-holiday won by factory laws such as the 1850 Factory Act; the two-day weekend became standard in the US after Henry Ford adopted a five-day week in 1926. Today, weekend means saturday and Sunday, when many people do not work.

1. Stage 1 · English · 1870s week-end "Saturday afternoon to Monday", a Midlands and northern term; Notes and Queries in 1879 reported that in Staffordshire someone who went away from Saturday afternoon to Sunday was 'spending his week-end' there.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1900s weekend "Saturday and Sunday", spread with the Saturday half-holiday won by factory laws such as the 1850 Factory Act; the two-day weekend became standard in the US after Henry Ford adopted a five-day week in 1926.