Day of the week
Galileo
's 1616 drawings of the
Moon
and its phases. Monday is named after the Moon in many languages.
Monday
is the
day of the week
that takes place between
Sunday
and
Tuesday
.
[1]
According to the
International Organization for Standardization
's
ISO 8601
standard, it is the first
day
of the
week
.
[2]
Names
[
edit
]
A depiction of
Mani
, the personified moon, and his sister
Sol
, the personified sun, from
Norse mythology
(1895) by
Lorenz Frølich
The names of the day of the week were coined in the
Roman era
, in
Greek
and Latin, in the case of Monday as
?μ?ρ?
Σελ?νη?
,
di?s L?nae
"day of the Moon".
[3]
Many languages use either terms directly derived from these names or loan translations based on them.
The English noun
Monday
derived sometime before 1200 from
monedæi
, which itself developed from
Old English
(around 1000)
m?nandæg
and
m?ndæg
(literally meaning "
moon
's day"), which has cognates in other
Germanic languages
, including
Old Frisian
m?nadeig
,
Middle Low German
and
Middle Dutch
m?nendag, m?nendach
(modern
Dutch
Maandag
),
Old High German
m?netag
(modern
German
Montag
), and
Old Norse
manadagr
(
Swedish
and
Norwegian nynorsk
mandag
,
Icelandic
manudagur
.
Danish
and
Norwegian bokmal
mandag
). The Germanic term is a
Germanic interpretation
of
Latin
lunae dies
("day of the moon").
[4]
Japanese
and
Korean
share the same ancient
Chinese words
'月曜日' (
Hiragana
:げつようび,
translit.
getsuyо?bi
,
Hangeul
:月曜日) for Monday which means "day of the moon".
In many
Indo-Aryan languages
, the word for Monday is
Somav?ra
or
Chandrav?ra
,
Sanskrit
loan-translations of "Monday".
[5]
In some cases, the "ecclesiastical" names are used, a tradition of numbering the days of the week in order to avoid the pagan connotation of the planetary or deities’ names, and to keep with the biblical name, in which Monday is the "second day" (Hebrew ??? ???, Greek Δευτ?ρα ?μ?ρα (
Deutera h?mera
), Latin
feria secunda, Arabic ???????
).
In many
Slavic languages
the name of the day translates to "after Sunday/holiday".
Russian
понедельник
(
ponyedyelnik
) literally translated, Monday means "next to the week", по "next to" or "on" недельник "(the) week"
Croatian
and
Bosnian
ponedjeljak
,
Serbian
понеде?ак
(
ponedeljak
),
Ukrainian
понед?лок
(
ponedilok
),
Bulgarian
понеделник
(
ponedelnik
),
Polish
poniedziałek
,
Czech
pond?li
,
Slovak
pondelok
,
Slovenian
ponedeljek
. In Turkish it is called
pazartesi
, which also means "after Sunday".
Arrangement in the week
[
edit
]
Historically, the Greco-Roman week began with Sunday (
dies solis
), and Monday (
dies lunae
) was the second day of the week.
[
citation needed
]
It is still the custom to refer to Monday as
feria secunda
in the
liturgical calendar
of the
Catholic Church
.
Quakers
also traditionally referred to Monday as "Second Day".
[6]
The
Portuguese
and the
Greek
(Eastern Orthodox Church) also retain the ecclesiastical tradition (Portuguese
segunda-feira
, Greek
Δευτ?ρα
"
deutera
" "second").
Vietnamese
, whose
Latin-based alphabet
was originally
romanized
by Portuguese
Jesuit
missionaries
, adopted this convention and thus also refers to Monday as Second Day (
th? Hai
). Likewise, the
Modern Hebrew
name for Monday is
yom-sheni
(??? ???).
While in North America, Sunday is the first day of the week, the Geneva-based
International Organization for Standardization
places Monday as the first day of the week in its
ISO 8601
standard. Monday is
x?ngq?y? (星期一)
in
Chinese
, meaning "day one of the week".
Religious observances
[
edit
]
Christianity
[
edit
]
The
early Christian
Didache
warned believers not to fast on Mondays to avoid
Judaizing
(see
below
), and suggested fasting on Wednesdays instead.
In the
Eastern Orthodox Church
, Mondays are days on which the
Angels
are commemorated. The
Octoechos
contains
hymns
on this theme, arranged in an eight-week cycle, which are chanted on Mondays throughout the year. At the end of
Divine Services
on Mondays, the
dismissal
begins with the words: "May Christ our True God, through the
intercessions
, of his most-pure
Mother
, of the honorable, Bodiless Powers (i.e., the angels) of
Heaven
…". In many Eastern
monasteries
Mondays are observed as
fast days
; because Mondays are dedicated to the angels, and
monks
strive to live an angelic life. In these monasteries, the monks abstain from meat, fowl, dairy products, fish, wine and oil (if a
feast day
occurs on a Monday, fish, wine and oil may be allowed, depending upon the particular feast).
Members of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
spend one evening per week, called
Family Home Evening
(FHE) or Family Night. This is usually a Monday, when families are encouraged to spend time together in study, prayer and other family activities. Many businesses
[
who?
]
owned by Latter-Day Saints close early on Mondays so that they and their customers are able to spend more time with their families.
Hinduism
[
edit
]
In
Hinduism
, Mondays are associated with the
Hindu god
of the moon
Chandra
or Soma. In several
South Asian languages
, Monday is knowns as
Somavara
. Hindus who fast on Mondays do so in dedication to the deity
Shiva
. Some observe the
Solah Somvar Vrat
, which is a fast of sixteen Mondays dedicated to Shiva in hopes of getting married and finding a suitable partner. Fasting on Mondays in the Hindu month of
Shravana
is also considered auspicious as it is one of the holiest months to Hindus and dedicated to Shiva and his consort
Parvati
.
[7]
[8]
Islam
[
edit
]
In
Islam
, Mondays are one of the days in a week in which Muslims are encouraged to do
voluntary fasting
, the other being Thursdays.
[9]
There are a number of
Hadith
which narrated of
Muhammad
fasting on these days. According to the same Hadith, Muhammad was born on Monday. It is also narrated that he received his
first revelation
(which would later become
the Quran
) on Monday.
[10]
Judaism
[
edit
]
In
Judaism
, Mondays are considered auspicious days for fasting.
In Judaism, a small portion of the weekly
Parashah
in
Torah
is read in public on Monday and Thursday mornings, as a supplement for the
Saturday
reading). Special penitential prayers are recited on Monday unless there is a special occasion for happiness which cancels them. According to the Mishna and Talmud, these traditions are due to Monday and Thursday being "the market days" when people gathered from the towns to the city.
A tradition of
Ashkenazi Jews
to voluntarily fast on the first consecutive Monday Thursday and Monday of the Hebrew month is prevalent among the ultra-orthodox.
In Hebrew, Monday is called "Yom Sheni", literally meaning "Second Day", following the biblical reference to the sabbath day as the "Seventh-day" and the tradition of that day being on
Saturday
. It has been established that the phonetic and cultural link between the planet Saturn, Saturday and the Sabbath day is of ancient Mesopotamian origin.
[11]
Cultural references
[
edit
]
This postcard, sent in 1907 and captioned "Monday Morning in N. Y. City", reflects the tradition of Monday as a day for washing clothes.
A number of popular songs in Western culture portray Mondays often as days of depression, anxiety, avolition, hysteria, or melancholy (mostly because of its association with the first day of the workweek). Mondays are also portrayed as days of boredom and bad luck, especially for many people in their school years, who have to go back to school every Monday after having no school Saturday and Sunday, which can make them grow a hatred for Mondays. For example, "
Monday, Monday
" (1966) from the
Mamas & the Papas
; "
Rainy Days and Mondays
" (1971) from the
Carpenters
; Monday, Monday, Monday (2002) from
Tegan and Sara
; and "
Manic Monday
" (1986) from the
Bangles
(written by
Prince
).
There is a band named the
Happy Mondays
and an American pop-punk band
Hey Monday
.
The popular comic strip character
Garfield
by Jim Davis is well known for his hatred for Mondays, mostly accompanied by the catchphrase “I hate Mondays.”
[12]
In the
United Kingdom
, more people commit suicide in
England
and
Wales
on Mondays than other days of the week;
[13]
more people in the country in general call in sick;
[14]
and more people worldwide surf the web.
[15]
In July 2002, the consulting firm
PricewaterhouseCoopers
announced that it would rename its consultancy practice "Monday", and would spend $110 million over the next year to establish the brand. When
IBM
acquired the consultancy three months later it chose not to retain the new name.
[16]
On October 17, 2022,
Guinness World Records
announced on
Twitter
[17]
that Monday is the '
Worst Day of the Week'
, to the dismay of some people.
[18]
[19]
Named days
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
Look up
Monday
in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
"Monday Meaning"
.
Cambridge Dictionary
.
- ^
"ISO 8601-1:2019(en) Date and time ? Representations for information interchange ? Part 1: Basic rules"
.
www.iso.org
. Retrieved
14 May
2024
.
- ^
"monday"
.
Online Etymology Dictionary
.
- ^
Barnhart (1995:485).
- ^
Turner
(1962).
"s?mav?ra 13610"
.
A comparative dictionary of the Indo-Aryan languages. London: Oxford University Press
. Digital Dictionaries of South Asia, University of Chicago. p. 784. Archived from
the original
on 15 December 2012
. Retrieved
21 February
2010
.
s?mav?ra 13610 s?mav?ra masculine 'Monday' inscription [s?ma the plant, v?ra 2 meaning day]
- ^
"Guide to Quaker Calendar Names"
. Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative) Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
. Retrieved
30 March
2017
.
In the 20th Century, many Friends began accepting the use of the common date names, feeling that any pagan meaning has been forgotten. The numerical names continue to be used, however, in many documents and more formal situations."
- ^
"Somvar Vrat"
.
- ^
"Shravan Somvar Vrat"
.
- ^
"Fasting Six Days of Shawwal on Mondays and Thursdays - Islam Question & Answer"
.
islamqa.info
. Retrieved
11 January
2023
.
- ^
Elias, Abu Amina (15 April 2019).
"Hadith on Fasting: Recommendation to fast Monday, three days a month"
.
www.abuaminaelias.com
. Retrieved
26 November
2023
.
- ^
Saturn Jews
, Eric Zafran Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes. See also
Hebrew University
Professor
Moshe Idel
's book, Saturn Jews, and Shlomo Sela's article
Saturn and the Jews
(University of Pennsylvania) about trends in late Judaism distancing it from the link between the Sabbath day and Saturn.
- ^
Minow, Neil (3 November 2014).
"Jim Davis Explains Why Garfield Loves Lasagna and Hates Mondays and Why People Love Garfield"
. Retrieved
28 March
2016
.
- ^
Carvel, John (26 August 2005).
"Monday is most common day for suicide"
.
The Guardian
. London.
- ^
"Monday is 'the most popular sick day'
"
. Blog.taragana.com. 10 November 2009. Archived from
the original
on 27 April 2010
. Retrieved
30 April
2013
.
- ^
"OneStat Website Statistics and website metrics ? Press Room"
. Onestat.com. 9 April 2003. Archived from
the original
on 30 April 2003
. Retrieved
30 April
2013
.
- ^
Blakely, Beth (17 July 2002).
"Monday: PwC Consulting's new name creates controversy, cackles | TechRepublic"
. Articles.techrepublic.com.com
. Retrieved
30 April
2013
.
- ^
"Guiness World Records: "we're officially giving monday the record of the worst day of the week."
"
.
Twitter
. Retrieved
21 October
2022
.
- ^
"Guinness World Records declares Monday the worst day of the week. Netizens react"
.
The Indian Express
. 18 October 2022
. Retrieved
21 October
2022
.
- ^
"Guinness World Records Officially Declares Monday 'Worst Day Of The Week'
"
.
NDTV.com
. Retrieved
21 October
2022
.
References
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Monday
.
Wikiquote has quotations related to
Monday
.