Wednesday

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English wednesdai, also wodnesday,^[2][3] inherited from Old English Wōdnesdæg (“Woden's day”),^[4][2][5] formed from the genitive of Wōden, the name of a Germanic god, and dæg (“day”).^[4][6] It imitates Latin diēs Mercuriī (“day of Mercury”),^[6][2][7] the source of French mercredi, Italian mercoledì and Spanish miércoles.^[8][2] 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] Tacitus already suggests that Woden was identified with Mercury, and the OED lists what the two share: eloquence, swiftness, range of travel and guardianship of the dead.^[6] An early Old English gloss has “Mercurium, woden”.^[6] Ayto says the god's name may mean "the inspired or mad one",^[8] and Skeat explains it as "furious", connecting it with wōd (“mad”).^[9] Compare Old Frisian wōnsdei, Dutch woensdag,^[6][2] Old Norse Óðinsdagr, Swedish onsdag and Danish onsdag,^[6][7] which the OED takes as following West Germanic models.^[6] A form with vowel mutation, like wēnsdei, seems to lie behind the English spelling with e;^[10][11] Etymonline points out that German Mittwoch (“mid-week”) avoids the god's name, perhaps through the influence of a Gothic church week borrowed from Greek missionaries.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The day after Tuesday: in Old English, in Byrhtferð's Enchiridion,^[6] about 950 in Barnhart.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed fixed, while the day's place in the week has moved: it was traditionally the fourth day, and is now often counted as the third.^[6] The form has changed more: Etymonline notes the variety of the Middle English spellings, among them wedenisdai, wedinsdai and wensdai, with the contracted pronunciation recorded from the 15th century.^[7] The English Dialect Dictionary records, from Scotland and Norfolk, it's Wednesday through all the world, said as a protection against witchcraft, and won't get further than Wednesday, of someone not quite right in the head.^[12]

Timeline

• Old English – on Wednesday, as an adverb, in the Lindisfarne Gospels.^[6]
• about 1200 – the forms Wednesdai and Wodnesdei.^[2]
• before 1250 – Wednesdays, on each Wednesday, in the Ancrene Riwle.^[6]
• 15th century – the contracted pronunciation.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. The day after Tuesday and before Thursday, traditionally the fourth day of the week and now often counted as the third.^[6][3][13]

Adverb

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

Word family

• Wednesdays

Related words

• day
• Odin
• Woden
• mercury
• Tuesday
• Thursday
• Friday

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
9. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
12. ^ 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)
13. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins