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weekend

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word weekend

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1905, Alfredo Panzini
Borrowed from
English weekend
Ultimate origin
Old English wice,endian
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English week
English weekend
Italian weekend

Pronunciation

Forms

weekend m (invariable)[1] Also written week-end.[1][2][3] The English plural weekends is also used.[4][5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from English weekend, a compound of week and end.[6][7][2][4] DELI dates the English phrase to 1638, while GRADIT and the GDLI date it to 1878.[6][2][8] The Italian fine settimana is a calque of it.[6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first recorded in 1905, in Alfredo Panzini's dictionary of new words, both for the end of the week and for a short holiday on Saturday and Sunday.[6][7]

Semantic evolution

In 1919 a correspondent of La Stampa in Paris still explained the word as what the English call the end of the week, when in general nothing is done.[6] The calque fine settimana followed by 1932;[2][4][6] Heinimann noted that the two are not quite interchangeable in meaning and style.[2][4][6] The derivative weekendista, one who goes away for the weekend, appears in the press in the 1960s.[6]

Moravia, Vittorini and Pasolini used the word in its written form week-end.[8]

Timeline

  • 1638 – DELI's date for the English phrase.[6]
  • 1878 – GRADIT's and the GDLI's date for English week-end.[2][8]
  • 1905 – Panzini records week-end in Italian.[6][7]
  • 1919 – La Stampa explains the word to its readers.[6]
  • 1932 – Fine settimana is recorded.[2]
  • 1964 – Weekendista appears in the Corriere della Sera.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The weekend, Saturday and Sunday as days free from work: Ci vediamo nel weekend.[2][4][5]
  2. A short holiday taken at the weekend: Sono partiti per un weekend in montagna.[3][5]

Word family

  • weekendista

Usage notes

The word is masculine and usually invariable (i weekend), though the English plural weekends is also found.[3][4][5] It is pronounced /wiˈkɛnd/, with the stress on the second syllable.[1][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  3. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  7. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 21, 1033
  9. ^ Canepari, Luciano, DiPI: Dizionario di pronuncia italiana, online ed., dipionline.it

Related etymologies

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Cite this entry

“Weekend.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/weekend. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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