Days of the week

The days of the week were originally named in old English or Latin. They were named after gods, the Sun and moon.

Monday: Moon's day. From the old English word monandaeg.

Tuesday: Day of Tiw, the Scandinavian god of war and the sky. From the old English word tiwesdaeg.

Wednesday: Woden's day, the Anglo-Saxon sky-god. From the old English wodnes daeg.

Thursday: Day of Thor, the Norse god of thunder. From the old English thursdaeg.

Friday: Day of Freya, the Norse goddess of love. From the old English word frigedaeg.

Saturday: Day of Saturn, the main Roman god. From the Latin saturni dies.

Sunday: Sun's day. From the old English word sunnandaeg.

Months of the year

The Romans originally named the months of the year. They were named after gods, Roman leaders, numbers and other Latin words.

January: The month of Janus, roman god of doors and gates. From the Latin januarius.

February: February is named after februa, roman period of purification.

March: Named after Mars, roman god of war.

April: April is named after 'aperirre', Latin for 'to open'.

May: Named after Maia, roman goddess of spring and growth.

June: June is named after Juno, roman goddess of marriage.

July: Named after Julius Ceasar, a famous Roman leader. From the Latin Julius.

August: August is named after Augustus, the first roman emperor.

Originally the calendar began with March instead of January. The last four months are number as if the calendar began with March as the first month and January as the last month of the year.

September: Seventh month. Sept is Latin for 7.

October: Eighth month. Oct is Latin for 8.

November: Ninth month. Nov is Latin for 9.

December: Tenth month. Dec is Latin for 10.

 Last updated 21.11.03