friday

The name Friday originates from Old English Frīgedæg, a compound meaning "day of Frigg," the Germanic goddess of love, marriage, and destiny, who was equated with the Roman goddess Venus. This naming follows the widespread Germanic practice of translating the Latin names for the days of the week, which were themselves based on a seven-day planetary week inherited from the Hellenistic world. Thus, the Latin dies Veneris (day of Venus) was directly adapted into the Germanic pantheon, linking the planet Venus to the goddess Frigg. Over centuries, through regular sound changes in the English language, Frīgedæg evolved phonetically into the modern "Friday," preserving its ancient association with a specific deity but losing its transparent morphological structure in contemporary English.

The word "Friday" is a simplex form derived from the Old English Frīgedæg, meaning "day of Frigg." It is a loan translation of the Latin dies Veneris, "day of Venus."