Monday is the

day of the week In many languages, the names given to the seven days of the week are derived from the names of the classical planets in Hellenistic astronomy, which were in turn named after contemporary deities, a system introduced by the Sumerians and la ...

between

Sunday Sunday is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. In most Western countries, Sunday is a day of rest and a part of the weekend. It is often considered the first day of the week. For most observant adherents of Christianity, Sunday ...

and

Tuesday Tuesday is the day of the week between Monday and Wednesday. According to international standard ISO 8601, Monday is the first day of the week; thus, Tuesday is the second day of the week. According to some commonly used calendars, howeve ...

. According to the

International Organization for Standardization The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ) is an international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Membership requirements are given in Ar ...

ISO 8601 ISO 8601 is an international standard covering the worldwide exchange and communication of date and time-related data. It is maintained by the Geneva-based International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and was first published in 1988, wi ...

standard, it is the first

day A day is the time period of a full rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours, 1440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds. In everyday life, the word "day" often refers to a solar day, which is the length between two so ...

of the

week A week is a unit of time equal to seven days. It is the standard time period used for short cycles of days in most parts of the world. The days are often used to indicate common work days and rest days, as well as days of worship. Weeks are ofte ...

and in countries that adopt the "Sunday-first" convention, it is the second day of the week. The name of Monday is derived from

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

''Mōnandæg'' and

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English ...

''Monenday'', originally a translation of

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

''dies lunae'' "day of the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width ...

Names

The names of the day of the week were coined in the

Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

, in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and Latin, in the case of Monday as ἡμέρᾱ Σελήνης, ''diēs Lūnae'' "day of the Moon". Many languages use terms either directly derived from these names or loan translations based on them. The English noun ''Monday'' derived sometime before 1200 from ''monedæi'', which itself developed from

(around 1000) ''mōnandæg'' and ''mōndæg'' (literally meaning "

moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width ...

's day"), which has cognates in other

Germanic languages The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania and Southern Africa. The most widely spoken Germanic language, ...

, including

Old Frisian Old Frisian was a West Germanic language spoken between the 8th and 16th centuries along the North Sea coast, roughly between the mouths of the Rhine and Weser rivers. The Frisian settlers on the coast of South Jutland (today's Northern Fri ...

''mōnadeig'',

Middle Low German Middle Low German or Middle Saxon (autonym: ''Sassisch'', i.e. " Saxon", Standard High German: ', Modern Dutch: ') is a developmental stage of Low German. It developed from the Old Saxon language in the Middle Ages and has been documented in ...

and

Middle Dutch Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch. It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or c. 1550, there was no overar ...

''mānendag, mānendach'' (modern

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People ...

''Maandag''),

Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...

''mānetag'' (modern German ''Montag''), and

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

''mánadagr'' ( Swedish and Norwegian nynorsk ''måndag'', Icelandic ''mánudagur''. Danish and Norwegian bokmål ''mandag''). The Germanic term is a Germanic interpretation of

''lunae dies'' ("day of the moon").Barnhart (1995:485).

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese dia ...

and

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language * ...

share the same ancient Chinese words '月曜日' (

Hiragana is a Japanese syllabary, part of the Japanese writing system, along with ''katakana'' as well as ''kanji''. It is a phonetic lettering system. The word ''hiragana'' literally means "flowing" or "simple" kana ("simple" originally as contras ...

:げつようび, translit. ''getsuyо̄bi'',

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The l ...

:월요일) for Monday which means "day of the moon". In many

Indo-Aryan languages The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily concentrated in India, P ...

, the word for Monday is ''Somavāra'' or ''Chandravāra'',

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the la ...

loan-translations of "Monday". In some cases, the "ecclesiastical" names are used, a tradition of numbering the days of the week in order to avoid the "pagan" connotation of the planetary names, and to keep with the biblical name, in which Monday is the "second day" (Hebrew יום שני, Greek Δευτέρα ἡμέρα (''Deutéra hēméra''), Latin ''feria secunda, Arabic الأثنين''). In many

Slavic languages The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the ...

the name of the day translates to "after Sunday/holiday". Russian ''понедельник'' (''ponyedyelnik'') literally translated, Monday means "next to the week", по "next to" or "on" недельник "(the) week" Croatian and Bosnian ''ponedjeljak'',

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also * * * Old Serbian (disambiguat ...

''понедељак'' (''ponedeljak''), Ukrainian ''понеділок'' (''ponedilok''), Bulgarian ''понеделник'' (''ponedelnik''),

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin scree ...

''poniedziałek'', Czech ''pondělí'', Slovak ''pondelok'', Slovenian ''ponedeljek''. In Turkish it is called ''pazartesi'', which also means "after Sunday".

Arrangement in the week

Historically, the Greco-Roman week began with Sunday (''dies solis''), and Monday (''dies lunae'') was the second day of the week. It is still the custom to refer to Monday as ''feria secunda'' in the

liturgical calendar The liturgical year, also called the church year, Christian year or kalendar, consists of the cycle of liturgical seasons in Christian churches that determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be observed, and whic ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

also traditionally referred to Monday as "Second Day". The

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Por ...

and the

(Eastern Orthodox Church) also retain the ecclesiastical tradition (Portuguese ''segunda-feira'', Greek ''Δευτέρα'' "''deutéra''" "second"). Likewise, the

Modern Hebrew Modern Hebrew ( he, עברית חדשה, ''ʿivrít ḥadašá ', , '' lit.'' "Modern Hebrew" or "New Hebrew"), also known as Israeli Hebrew or Israeli, and generally referred to by speakers simply as Hebrew ( ), is the standard form of the H ...

name for Monday is ''yom-sheni'' (יום שני). While in North America Sunday is the first day of the week, the Geneva-based

places Monday as the first day of the week in its

standard. Monday is ''xīngqīyī (星期一)'' in

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of v ...

, meaning "day one of the week".

Religious observances

Christianity

In the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops vi ...

Mondays are days on which the

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles includ ...

s are commemorated. The

Octoechos Oktōēchos (here transcribed "Octoechos"; Greek: ;The feminine form exists as well, but means the book octoechos. from ὀκτώ "eight" and ἦχος "sound, mode" called echos; Slavonic: Осмогласие, ''Osmoglasie'' from о́с� ...

contains

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn' ...

s on this theme, arranged in an eight-week cycle, that are chanted on Mondays throughout the year. At the end of Divine Services on Monday, the dismissal begins with the words: "May Christ our True God, through the intercession, s of his most-pure

Mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...

, of the honorable, Bodiless Powers (i.e., the angels) of

Heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the bel ...

…". In many Eastern

monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...

Mondays are observed as fast days; because Mondays are dedicated to the angels, and

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedicat ...

s strive to live an angelic life. In these monasteries, the monks abstain from meat, fowl, dairy products, fish, wine and oil (if a

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does ...

occurs on a Monday, fish, wine and oil may be allowed, depending upon the particular feast). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spend one evening per week called Family Home Evening (FHE) or Family Night usually Monday, that families are encouraged to spend together in study, prayer and other family activities. Many businesses owned by Latter-Day Saints close early on Mondays so they and their customers are able to spend more time with their families.

Islam

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

, Mondays are one of the days in a week in which Muslims are encouraged to do voluntary fasting, the other being Thursdays. There are a number of

Hadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approva ...

which narrated of

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mono ...

fasting on these days. According to the same Hadith, Muhammad was born on Monday. It is also narrated that he received his first revelation (which would later become the

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , si ...

) on Monday.

Judaism

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

Mondays are considered auspicious days for fasting. The

Didache The ''Didache'' (; ), also known as The Lord's Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations (Διδαχὴ Κυρίου διὰ τῶν δώδεκα ἀποστόλων τοῖς ἔθνεσιν), is a brief anonymous early Christian tre ...

warned early

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

not to fast on Mondays to avoid Judaizing, and suggests Wednesdays instead. In Judaism, a small portion of the weekly

Parashah The term ''parashah'' ( he, פָּרָשָׁה ''Pārāšâ'', "portion", Tiberian , Sephardi , plural: ''parashot'' or ''parashiyot'', also called ''parsha'') formally means a section of a biblical book in the Masoretic Text of the Tanakh ( ...

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...

is read in public on Monday and Thursday mornings, as a supplement for the

Saturday Saturday is the day of the week between Friday and Sunday. No later than the 2nd century, the Romans named Saturday ("Saturn's Day") for the planet Saturn, which controlled the first hour of that day, according to Vettius Valens. The day' ...

reading). Special penitential prayers are recited on Monday unless there is a special occasion for happiness which cancels them. According to the Mishna and Talmud, these traditions are due to Monday and Thursday being "the market days" when people gathered from the towns to the city. A tradition of Ashkenazi Jews to voluntarily fast on the first consecutive Monday Thursday and Monday of the Hebrew month is prevalent among the ultra-orthodox. In Hebrew, Monday is called "Yom Shayne," meaning literally "Second Day" following the biblical reference to the sabbath day as the "Seventh-day" and the tradition of that day being on

. It has been established that the phonetic and cultural link between the planet Saturn, Saturday and the Sabbath day is of ancient Mesopotamian origin.

Cultural references

A number of popular songs in Western culture feature Monday, often as a day of depression, anxiety, avolition, hysteria, or melancholy (mostly because of its association with the first day of the workweek). For example, " Monday, Monday" (1966) from the Mamas & the Papas, " Rainy Days and Mondays" (1971) from the Carpenters, "

I Don't Like Mondays "I Don't Like Mondays" is a song by Irish new wave group the Boomtown Rats about the 1979 Cleveland Elementary School shooting in San Diego. It was released in 1979 as the lead single from their third album, '' The Fine Art of Surfacing''. ...

" (1979) from the

Boomtown Rats The Boomtown Rats are an Irish rock band originally formed in Dublin in 1975. Between 1977 and 1985, they had a series of Irish and UK hits including " Like Clockwork", " Rat Trap", "I Don't Like Mondays" and "Banana Republic". The original l ...

, Monday, Monday, Monday (2002) from

Tegan and Sara Tegan and Sara () are a Canadian indie pop duo formed in 1998 in Calgary, Alberta. The band is led by identical twin sisters Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Keirsten Quin (born September 19, 1980). Both musicians are songwriters and multi-instrumental ...

, and "

Manic Monday "Manic Monday" is a song written by American musician Prince, but is better known from the version recorded by the American pop rock band the Bangles, which was the first single released from their second studio album, '' Different Light'' ...

" (1986) from the Bangles (written by

Prince A prince is a Monarch, male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary title, hereditary, in s ...

). There is a band named the

Happy Mondays Happy Mondays are an English rock band formed in Salford in 1980. The original line-up was Shaun Ryder (vocals), his brother Paul Ryder (bass), Gary Whelan (drums), Paul Davis (keyboard), and Mark Day (guitar). Mark "Bez" Berry later joined ...

and an American pop-punk band Hey Monday. The popular comic strip character

Garfield ''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976, then in nationwide syndication from 1978 as ''Garfield'', it chronicles the life of the title character Garfield the cat, his hum ...

by Jim Davis is well known for his disdain for Mondays. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and No ...

, more people commit suicide in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separa ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

on Mondays than other days of the week; more people in the country in general call in sick; and more people worldwide surf the web. In July 2002, the consulting firm

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accountin ...

announced that it would rename its consultancy practice "Monday", and would spend $110 million over the next year to establish the brand. When IBM acquired the consultancy three months later it chose not to retain the new name. On October 17, 2022,

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

announced on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that Monday is the '''Worst Day of the Week, to the dismay of some people.

Named days

* Big Monday * Black Monday * Blue Monday *

Clean Monday Clean Monday ( el, Καθαρά Δευτέρα), also known as Pure Monday, Ash Monday, Monday of Lent or Green Monday, is the first day of Great Lent throughout Eastern Christianity and is a moveable feast, falling on the 6th Monday before ...

(Ash Monday) * Cyber Monday *

Easter Monday Easter Monday refers to the day after Easter Sunday in either the Eastern or Western Christian traditions. It is a public holiday in some countries. It is the second day of Eastertide. In Western Christianity, it marks the second day of the O ...

, also Bright Monday or Wet Monday *

First Monday ''First Monday'' is an American legal drama television series which aired on CBS during the midseason replacement from January 15 to May 3, 2002. The series centered on the U.S. Supreme Court. Like another 2002 series, '' The Court'', it was ...

* Handsel Monday *

Lundi Gras Lundi Gras is a relatively recently popularized name for a series of Shrove Monday events taking place during the Mardi Gras. It includes the tradition of Rex parade, Rex, king of the New Orleans carnival, and Zulu King arriving by boat. This began ...

* Mad Monday * Miracle Monday * Plough Monday *

Shrove Monday Shrove Monday, sometimes known as Collopy Monday, Rose Monday, Merry Monday or Hall Monday, is a Christian observance falling on the Monday before Ash Wednesday every year. A part of the English traditional Shrovetide celebrations of the week be ...

Wet Monday Wet may refer to: * Moisture, the condition of containing liquid or being covered or saturated in liquid * Wetting (or wetness), a measure of how well a liquid sticks to a solid rather than forming a sphere on the surface Wet or WET may also refe ...

Whit Monday Whit Monday or Pentecost Monday, also known as Monday of the Holy Spirit, is the holiday celebrated the day after Pentecost, a moveable feast in the Christian liturgical calendar. It is moveable because it is determined by the date of Easter. I ...

Notes

References

* Barnhart, Robert K. (1995). ''The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology''.

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News C ...

. {{Authority control 1 Monday Selene