Friday

[frahy-dey, -dee] /ˈfraɪ deɪ, -di/
noun
1.
the sixth day of the week, following Thursday.
Origin
before 1000; Middle English; Old English Frīgedæg Freya's day, equivalent to Frīge (genitive singular of Frēo) + dæg day; Frēo is identical with Old English adj. frēo free
Examples from the web for Friday
  • Hundreds of people climb to the tower each year on good Friday.
British Dictionary definitions for Friday

Friday

/ˈfraɪdɪ; -deɪ/
noun
1.
the sixth day of the week; fifth day of the working week
Word Origin
Old English Frīgedæg, literally: Freya's day; related to Old Frisian frīadei, Old High German frīatag
Word Origin and History for Friday

Old English frigedæg "Frigga's day," from Frige, genitive of Frig (see Frigg), Germanic goddess of married love, a West Germanic translation of Latin dies Veneris "day of (the planet) Venus," which itself translated Greek Aphrodites hemera.

Cf. Old Norse frijadagr, Old Frisian frigendei, Middle Dutch vridach, Dutch vrijdag, German Freitag "Friday," and the Latin-derived cognates Old French vendresdi, French vendredi, Spanish viernes.

In the Germanic pantheon, Freya (q.v.) corresponds more closely in character to Venus than Frigg does, and some early Icelandic writers used Freyjudagr for "Friday."

Black Friday as the name for the busy shopping day after U.S. Thanksgiving holiday is said to date from 1960s and perhaps was coined by those who had the job of controlling the crowds, not by the merchants; earlier it was used principally of days when financial markets crashed.

Friday in Culture

Friday definition


A native character in Robinson Crusoe, so named because Crusoe found him on a Friday. Friday places himself in service to Crusoe and helps him survive.

Note: Figuratively, a “man Friday” or “girl Friday” is a valued helper.
Slang definitions & phrases for Friday

Friday

Related Terms

gal friday, tgif


Idioms and Phrases with Friday