Friday

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English fridai,^[2][3] inherited from Old English Frīgedæg (“Frig's day”),^[2][4][5] formed from the genitive of Frīg, the name of a Germanic goddess, and dæg (“day”).^[3][6][7] It imitates Latin diēs Veneris (“day of Venus”),^[6][4][8] the source of French vendredi and Spanish viernes,^[5] and Etymonline, Barnhart and Ayto take the Latin as a translation of Ancient Greek Ἀφροδίτης ἡμέρα (Aphrodítēs hēméra).^[5][8][9] The OED explains that the Roman days were named after planets and the planets after gods, and that Germanic speakers usually replaced the Roman god with a comparable one.^[6] Hoad, Ayto and the Shorter Oxford take the goddess's name from a noun use of the feminine of Proto-Germanic *frijaz (“noble”), the source of free;^[10][9][11] Barnhart connects it instead with frēogan (“to love”) and so with friend.^[8] Compare Old Frisian frīadei, Dutch vrijdag and German Freitag,^[6][5][10] along with Old Norse frjádagr, Swedish fredag and Danish fredag, which the OED derives from West Germanic forms.^[6] The goddess is Frigg in Old Norse, the wife of Odin.^[10][9] Etymonline adds that Freya is closer in character to Venus, and that some early Icelandic writers said Freyjudagr.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The day after Thursday: in early Old English, in Bald's Leechbook;^[6] before 1000 in Barnhart.^[8] The Middle English forms are recorded as fridæi in 1137 and Friedai in 1148.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Friday was a fast day in the Church, which gave Friday face, a gloomy expression, in the 17th century;^[5][12] Johnson (1755) quotes Shakespeare's Troilus on someone who would be as fair on Friday as Helen is on Sunday.^[13] The day's place in the week has also moved: it was traditionally the sixth day and is now often counted as the fifth.^[6] From 1835 a Friday could be a social gathering held on that day, often among people of high standing.^[6] In American underworld slang the word meant hanging day, recorded in Matsell's 1859 glossary.^[12] Dialect compounds include Friday's bawbee, a weekly halfpenny of pocket money for children, and Friday's breakfast, a scanty meal.^[14] The OED lists girl Friday and man Friday at their first elements.^[6][15]

Timeline

• Old English – on Friday, as an adverb.^[6]
• 1137 – the form fridæi.^[8]
• before 1250 – Fridays, on each Friday, in the Ancrene Riwle.^[6]
• 17th century – Friday face, a gloomy face.^[5]
• 1835 – a social gathering held on a Friday.^[6]
• 1859 – hanging day, in American underworld slang.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. The day after Thursday and before Saturday, traditionally the sixth day of the week and now often counted as the fifth.^[6][16][15]
2. A social gathering held on a Friday.^[6]

Adverb

1. On Friday, or on the last or next Friday; now chiefly North American.^[6]
2. Fridays: on every Friday.^[6]

Word family

• Fridays
• Good Friday
• man Friday
• girl Friday

Related words

• day
• free
• friend
• Frigg
• Freya
• Venus
• Tuesday
• Wednesday

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
9. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
10. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
15. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
16. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster