Thursday
English
Etymology
From Middle English Thursday, Thuresday, from Old English þursdæġ, þurresdæġ (“Thursday”), possibly from a contraction of þunresdæġ (“Thursday”, literally “Thor's day”), but more likely of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse þórsdagr; all from Proto-West Germanic *Þunras dag (“day of the thunder god”). Compare West Frisian tongersdei, German Low German Dunnersdag, Dutch donderdag, German Donnerstag, Danish torsdag. More at thunder, day.
A calque of Latin diēs Iovis (diēs Jovis), via an association (interpretātiō germānica) of the god Thor with the Roman god of thunder Jove (Jupiter).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈθɜːzdeɪ/, /ˈθɜːzdi/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈθɝzdeɪ/, /ˈθɝzdi/
- (New Zealand) IPA(key): /ˈθɵːzdæe/
- (General Australian) IPA(key): /ˈθɘːzdæɪ̯/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (UK) (file)
- Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)zdeɪ, -ɜː(ɹ)zdi
Noun
Thursday (plural Thursdays)
- The fifth day of the week in many religious traditions, and the fourth day of the week in systems using the ISO 8601 norm; it follows Wednesday and precedes Friday.
- c. 1591–1595 (date written), [William Shakespeare], […] Romeo and Juliet. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Iohn Danter, published 1597, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]:
- Cap[ulet]. […] If vve ſhould reuell much, therefore vve vvill haue / Some halfe a dozen frends and make no more adoe. / But vvhat ſay you to Thurſday. / Par[is]. My Lorde I vviſhe that Thurſday vvere to morrovv.
- 1992, Toni Morrison, Jazz, Vintage (2016), page 50:
- But for satisfaction pure and deep, for balance in pleasure and comfort, Thursday canʼt be beat.
Hypernyms
Hyponyms
- Ascension Thursday
- Black Thursday
- Bounds Thursday
- Carnival Thursday
- Chare Thursday
- dirty tricks Thursday
- dress-up Thursday
- Fat Thursday
- Great and Holy Thursday
- Great Thursday
- Green Thursday
- Hallow Thursday
- Holy Thursday
- Maundy Thursday
- Running Thursday
- Shear Thursday
- Sheer Thursday
- Shore Thursday
- Shorpthursday
- Shorthursday
- Shrove Thursday
- Silver Thursday
- Skire Thursday
- Skis Thursday
- Super Thursday
- Whit Thursday
Derived terms
- Shorpthursday
- Shorthursday
- Thursdays
Related terms
Translations
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
|
Translations
Middle English
Alternative forms
- thoresday, Thuresday, Thurysday, Þursday
Etymology
From Old English þurresdæġ, þursdæġ, late form of þunresdæġ, from Proto-West Germanic *Þunras dag. Possibly influenced by Old Norse þórsdagr, though compare the development of early Middle English are from ānre.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈθur(i)zdæi̯/
Proper noun
Thursday
- Thursday
Derived terms
References
- “Thūres-dai, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.