week-end

Forms

week-end m (plural week-ends)^[1] Also spelled weekend under the 1990 spelling reform.^[2] The adapted spellings ouiquende and ouiquinde did not catch on;^[3] vouiquenne is found in Boudard in 1963.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from English week-end,^{[5][3][6][1][7]} a compound of week and end, which first meant the end of the week (1638) and later the holiday at the end of the week, especially when spent away from home for leisure (1879).^[5][3][8] According to Etymonline it was at first a northern word for the time from Saturday noon to Monday morning, and became general after 1878.^[9] Bloch and Wartburg say it was made popular in France by the weekends of British ministers.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1906 in Coulevain's L'Île inconnue, about England, for the weekend break; it is used of France in Giraudoux's Bella in 1926.^[5][3]

Semantic evolution

Used at first only of England or of English-speaking countries, it spread in French around 1920–1925.^[3][8] The weekend closing of English banks and businesses also led to the French calque semaine anglaise (1914), now out of use.^[3][6] Partir en week-end is recorded in Daninos in 1963.^[10]

In Quebec fin de semaine is used, in competition with week-end;^[3][2] Rey notes that it can replace the anglicism in the sense of the end of the week, but less easily in the sense of a leisure trip, or in phrases such as week-end prolongé.^[3][2] In Algeria the word names the weekly rest days, Thursday and Friday.^[11]

Timeline

• 1638 – English week-end is recorded for the end of the week.^[5][3]
• 1879 – English uses it for the leisure break at the end of the week.^[5][3]
• 1906 – First French record, in Coulevain, about England.^[5][4]
• 1914 – The calque semaine anglaise appears.^[3]
• c. 1920–1925 – The word becomes common in France.^[3][8]
• 1926 – Giraudoux uses it of France.^[5]
• 1963 – Partir en week-end is recorded.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. The end of the week, from Saturday morning or noon to Sunday evening, as time off work for rest and leisure; a weekend.^[5][12][2]
2. A trip or stay away from home at this time: partir en week-end.^[10][12]
3. Long week-end, week-end prolongé: a weekend made longer by an extra day off, usually a public holiday.^[5][3]
4. (Algeria) The weekly days of rest, Thursday and Friday.^[11]

Related words

• fin de semaine
• English weekend

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 18, 132b
8. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
11. ^ a b Base de données lexicographiques panfrancophone (BDLP), Trésor de la langue française au Québec / Agence universitaire de la Francophonie, bdlp.org
12. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert