Monday is the

day of the week In a vast number of 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 Sume ...

that takes place between

Sunday Sunday (Latin: ''dies solis'' meaning "day of the sun") is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. Sunday is a Christian sabbath, day of rest in most Western countries and a part of the Workweek and weekend, weekend. In some Middle Ea ...

and Tuesday. According to the

International Organization for Standardization The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ; ; ) is an independent, non-governmental, international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. M ...

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 International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and was first published in 1988, with updates in ...

standard, it is the first

day A day is the time rotation period, period of a full Earth's rotation, rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours (86,400 seconds). As a day passes at a given location it experiences morning, afternoon, evening, ...

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 ...

Names

The names of the day of the week were coined in the Roman era, in Greek and Latin, in the case of Monday as ἡμέρᾱ Σελήνης, ''diēs Lūnae'' "day of the Moon". Many languages use either terms 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

Old English Old English ( or , or ), 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 developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

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

moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

's day"), which has cognates in other

Germanic languages The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European languages, 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 spoke ...

, including

Old Frisian Old Frisian was a West Germanic language spoken between the late 13th century and the end of 16th century. It is the common ancestor of all the modern Frisian languages except for the North Frisian language#Insular North Frisian, Insular North ...

''mōnadeig'', Middle Low German and Middle Dutch ''mānendag, mānendach'' (modern Dutch ''Maandag''),

Old High German Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...

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

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

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

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''lunae dies'' ("day of the moon").Barnhart (1995:485). Japanese and Korean share the same ancient Chinese words '月曜日' (

Hiragana is a Japanese language, Japanese syllabary, part of the Japanese writing system, along with ''katakana'' as well as ''kanji''. It is a phonetic lettering system. The word ''hiragana'' means "common" or "plain" kana (originally also "easy", ...

:げつようび, translit. ''getsuyо̄bi'', Hangeul: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 languages, Indo-European language family. As of 2024, there are more than 1.5 billion speakers, primarily concentrated east ...

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

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

loan-translations of "Monday". In some cases, the "ecclesiastical" names are used, a tradition of numbering the days of the week to avoid the pagan connotation of the planetary or deities’ 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 Slavs, Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic language, Proto- ...

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 ''понедељак'' (''ponedeljak''), Ukrainian ''понеділок'' (''ponedilok''), Bulgarian ''понеделник'' (''ponedelnik''), Polish ''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, ecclesiastical calendar, or kalendar, consists of the cycle of liturgical days and seasons that determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be obs ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

also traditionally referred to Monday as "Second Day". The Portuguese and the Greek (Eastern Orthodox Church) also retain the ecclesiastical tradition (Portuguese ''segunda-feira'', Greek ''Δευτέρα'' "''deutéra''" "second"). Vietnamese, whose Latin-based alphabet was originally

romanized In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and transcription, ...

by Portuguese

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

missionaries, adopted this convention and thus also refers to Monday as Second Day (''thứ Hai''). Likewise, the

Modern Hebrew Modern Hebrew (, or ), also known as Israeli Hebrew or simply Hebrew, is the Standard language, standard form of the Hebrew language spoken today. It is the only surviving Canaanite language, as well as one of the List of languages by first w ...

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, meaning "day one of the week".

Religious observances

Christianity

The early Christian Didache warned believers not to fast on Mondays to avoid Judaizing (see below), and suggested fasting on Wednesdays instead. In the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

, Mondays are days on which the Angels are commemorated. The Octoechos 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'' d ...

s on this theme, arranged in an eight-week cycle, which are chanted on Mondays throughout the year. At the end of Divine Services on Mondays, the dismissal begins with the words: "May Christ our True God, through the intercessions, 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 cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...

…". In many Eastern monasteries Mondays are observed as fast days; because Mondays are dedicated to the angels, and

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

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 n ...

occurs on a Monday, fish, wine and oil may be allowed, depending upon the particular feast). Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spend one evening per week, called Family Home Evening (FHE) or Family Night. This is usually a Monday, when families are encouraged to spend time together in study, prayer and other family activities.

Hinduism

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

, Mondays are associated with the Hindu god of the moon Chandra or Soma. In several South Asian languages, Monday is knowns as ''Somavara'' or ''Somavaram''. Hindus who fast on Mondays do so in dedication to the deity

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

. Some observe the ''Solah Somvar Vrat'', which is a fast of sixteen Mondays dedicated to Shiva in hopes of getting married and finding a suitable partner. Fasting on Mondays in the Hindu month of Shravana is also considered auspicious as it is one of the holiest months to Hindus and dedicated to Shiva and his consort

Parvati Parvati (, , IPA: /Sanskrit phonology, pɑɾʋət̪iː/), also known as Uma (, , IPA: Sanskrit phonology, /ʊmɑː/) and Gauri (, , IPA: /Sanskrit phonology, gə͡ʊɾiː/), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the Devi, ...

Islam

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

, 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 Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...

which narrated of

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

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

Judaism

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

, Mondays are considered auspicious days for fasting. In Judaism, a small portion of the weekly Parashah in

Torah The Torah ( , "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. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

is read in public on Monday and Thursday mornings, as a supplement for the Saturday 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 Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium CE. They traditionally speak Yiddish, a language ...

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 Shení", literally meaning "Second Day", following the biblical reference to the sabbath day as the "Seventh-day" and the tradition of that day being on Saturday. 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 portray Mondays often as days of depression, anxiety, avolition, hysteria, or melancholy (mostly because of its association with the first day of the workweek). Mondays are also portrayed as days of boredom and bad luck, especially for many people in their school years, who have to go back to school every Monday after having no school on Saturday and Sunday, which can make them grow a hatred for Mondays. For example, " Monday, Monday" (1966) from the Mamas & the Papas; " Rainy Days and Mondays" (1971) from the Carpenters; Monday, Monday, Monday (2002) from Tegan and Sara; and " Manic Monday" (1986) from the Bangles (written by

Prince A prince is a 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, in some European states. The ...

). There is a band named the Happy Mondays and an American pop-punk band Hey Monday. The popular comic strip character Garfield by Jim Davis is well known for his hatred for Mondays, mostly accompanied by the catchphrase “I hate 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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, more people commit suicide in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

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 announced that it would rename its consultancy practice "Monday", and would spend $110 million over the next year to establish the brand. When

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

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 British reference book published annually, list ...

announced on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

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 (Ash Monday) * Cyber Monday * Easter Monday, also Bright Monday or Wet Monday * Handsel Monday * Lundi Gras * Mad Monday * Miracle Monday * Plough Monday *

Shrove Monday Shrove Monday (also known as Collopy Monday, Rose Monday, Merry Monday or Hall Monday) is part of the Shrovetide or Carnival observances and celebrations of the week before Lent, following Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday and preceding Shrove Tuesd ...

* Wet Monday * Whit Monday

References

Notes

Sources

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

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

External links

{{Authority control 1 Monday Selene