wednesday
/ˈwɛnz.deɪ/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.59 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The fourth day of the week in many religious traditions, and the third day of the week in systems using the ISO 8601 norm; it follows Tuesday and precedes Thursday.
adv
On Wednesday.
Canadian usage; American usage; Informal
Example Sentences
- "US District Judge James Boasberg ruled Wednesday that “probable cause exists” to hold Trump administration officials in criminal contempt for violating his orders in mid-March halting the use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members."
Etymology
From Middle English Wednesday, from unattested Old English *wēdnesdæġ (“Wednesday”), synchronically an i-mutated form of attested wōdnesdæġ (itself from Proto-West Germanic *Wōdanas dag, its reflex Middle English Wodnesdei falling into disuse), from Proto-West Germanic *Wōdinas dag also attested in Old Frisian wednesdei and Middle Dutch wenesdach. In any case, 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. See also Japanese 水曜日 (“Mercury's day”). Cognates Cognate with Scots Wadensday (“Wednesday”), Yola Wennesdei (“Wednesday”), West Frisian woansdei (“Wednesday”), Afrikaans Woensdag (“Wednesday”), Central Franconian Jodesdaach (“Wednesday”), Dutch, West Flemish woensdag (“Wednesday”), Dutch Low Saxon woensdag, woonsdag, wonsdag (“Wednesday”), German Wodenstag, Wotanstag (“Wednesday”), Low German Goonsdag, Woonsdag (“Wednesday”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, Swedish onsdag (“Wednesday”), Faroese ónsdagur (“Wednesday”), Icelandic óðinsdagur (“Wednesday”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈwɛnz.deɪ/
- British English: /ˈwɛnz.deɪ/