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Meaning of the days of the week in Russian

Posted: Apr 29th, 14, 16:48
by Technolok
I have a question about the origin of words.

In English the days of the week have some meaning:
Sunday = Day of the Sun
Monday = Day of the Moon
Saturday = Day of Saturn

What about the days of the week in Russian? Do they also have some meaning? I can guess that maybe пятьница has something to do with the number 5 or четверг with number 4. But what about the rest? Anyone can help me with it?

Thanks!

Re: Meaning of the days of the week in Russian

Posted: May 2nd, 14, 01:05
by Kusinna
Воскресенье - Sunday, the Christ has risen on this day. Risen in Russian is "воскрес". In old Russian, Sunday had a different name - "неделя" - the day of doing nothing.
Понедельник - Monday. "По" is for "после" which is "after". "Недельник" is for, yes, you guessed it, "неделя" - the old name for Sunday. So Monday is, literately, "the day after doing nothing".
Вторник - Tuesday. From the word "второй" - second. The second day on the week.
Среда - Wednesday. From the word "средний" - the middle one.
Четверг, Пятница - 4th and 5th days.
Суббота - Saturday. I had to Google this one myself. Суббота is form Hebrew word for Saturday, which is שַׁבָּת - shabbat. The day when God took a rest from creation. Literally, The day of rest.

Hope you'll find this useful! :)