We all know the names of the week in English, but do you know their meanings? Did you ever wonder why they are called those names? Are the names the same in all languages?

The names for the days of the week in English, and many other languages, are based on names of planets or stars, or gods from other cultures. In Hebrew the names go according to the numbers one - two - three, etc. The last day of the week, Shabbat means “not to work”. In Arabic most of the meanings of the names of the days are similar to Hebrew, except Friday, “al-jumuah”, which means “to gather”. That is the day when the Muslims gather together to pray.

In English most of the days of the week are named after Norse gods but Saturday, Sunday and Monday are named for bodies in the universe. Saturday is named after the planet Saturn, the Roman god, while Sunday is named after the star we call our sun and Monday is named for the moon.

The days of the week do not have the same meaning in every language. This is just one more way of understanding how different cultures can be understood.