weekend English · revision 1770

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=1638}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /wiːˈkɛnd/, /ˈwiːˌkɛnd/ ''(UK)''; /ˈwiˌkɛnd/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a compound, [[af|en|week|end]].^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The end of the week (1638 in Merriam-Webster; 1630s in Etymonline).^(MW Collegiate)^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ According to Etymonline it was originally a northern English word for the time from Saturday noon to Monday morning;^(Etymonline) it became general after 1878, and by the end of the 19th century it usually included all of Saturday.^(Etymonline) Hendrickson dates the word to 1879 in England^(Hendrickson 2008) and says it was rarely used in America until the mid-1930s, since most Americans then worked six-day weeks;^(Hendrickson 2008) the first five-day, 40-hour workers were steelworkers (1923) and Ford employees (1926).^(Hendrickson 2008) The Historical Thesaurus dates the period between working weeks from 1793 and its leisure sense from 1879.^(HTOED) ''Long weekend'' is recorded from 1900.^(Etymonline) As a verb, to spend the weekend, it dates from 1901,^(MW Collegiate)^(HTOED) and a ''weekender'' was by 1880 a person who regularly spent it away from home.^(Etymonline) The adjective meaning “only at weekends”, part-time or amateur, as in ''weekend athletes'', dates from 1935,^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Dalzell 2013) and slang has the derisive ''weekend hippie'' and ''weekend junkie''.^(GDoS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1630s – first record.^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1793 – the period between working weeks (Historical Thesaurus).^(HTOED)

+ * 1878 – general use after this date.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1880 – ''weekender''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1900 – ''long weekend''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1901 – as a verb.^(MW Collegiate)^(MWU 2024)^(HTOED)

+ * 1935 – as an adjective, part-time.^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The end of the week, especially the time from Friday evening to Sunday evening, when most people do not work.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Collins 2023)^(Chambers 2008)

+ # This period extended, for a holiday or visit.^(SOED 2002)^(Chambers 2008)

+ # ''(UK prison slang)'' A very short term of imprisonment.^(GDoS)^(Dalzell 2013)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To spend the weekend somewhere.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of, for or happening at the weekend.^(AHD)^(Wiktionary)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Active in a role only at weekends or part-time; [[amateur]] or casual.^(MW Collegiate)^(SOED 2002)^(Dalzell 2013)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[weekender]]

+ * [[weekend bag]]

+ * [[weekend warrior]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[weekday]]

+ * [[week]]

+ * [[weekly]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}