payday

Etymology

It is a compound from English pay + day.^[2][3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A day on which payment is made, especially the regular day on which wages are paid: 1529, in a letter of J. Whalley.^[2][6] Etymonline glosses the early word as the day when payment was due or debts were to be settled.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Johnson (1755) defined it as the day on which debts are discharged or wages paid, quoting Locke on labourers who live on credit until the next payday.^[5] On the stock market it came to mean the day on which a transfer of stock has to be paid for (1858),^[2] Merriam-Webster's settlement day.^[6] In the 20th century it was used in the navy for the wages themselves, a use recorded from 1906 and now rare;^[2] since 1970 it has also meant a large financial reward or windfall, especially prize money in sport.^[2]

Timeline

• 1529 – a day on which payment is made, especially the day wages are paid.^[2][6]
• 1755 – Johnson: the day on which debts are discharged or wages paid.^[5]
• 1858 – on the stock market, the day a transfer of stock is paid for.^[2]
• 1906 – in the navy, wages, the sum paid on payday (now rare).^[2]
• 1970 – a large financial reward, a windfall.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The day on which wages or salary are regularly paid.^[6][7][2]
2. On the stock market, the settlement day on which bought stock must be paid for.^[6][2]
3. A large windfall or financial reward, as prize money in sport.^[2]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster