Although we say the words nearly every day, few people know the origins of the words for the days of the week. Each day of the week is named after either a planet or a god. In modern English, most of our days are taken from Germanic gods. Let's go through them one by one.

1. Sunday

This is probably the easiest to grasp. Sunday is the day of the sun. The sun has always been worshiped by ancient people as the giver of life and of light. It has always been the most important and primary god. In the Spanish language, the word Domingo is used for Sunday. Domingo basically means "the Lord's Day" or "Day of the Lord". Sunday has typically always been the first day of the week and the day to pay homage to the culture's most important god.

2. Monday

Monday is the moon's day. Although "Mon" is similar to "moon", this is also easy to understand if you realize that the Spanish word for Monday is Lunes, which is similar to the word "lunar".

3. Tuesday

In English, Tuesday is named for the Norse god Tiw (Tiw's Day). Traditionally, however, this has always been the day of Mars. In Spanish, Tuesday is Martes, the day of Mars.

4. Wednesday

The English Wednesday is derived from the Germanic god Woden. This is Woden's Day. Traditionally it has been the day or Mercury, as is seen from the Spanish word for Wednesday: Miercoles.

5. Thursday

Thursday is the celebration of Thor, the famous god of thunder. This is Thor's Day. In other cultures, it is the day of Jupiter, as is seen by the Spanish Jueves. There is a slight connection between Jupiter and Thor, as the Roman god Jupiter maintained his power through the use of the mighty thunderbolt.

6. Friday

Friday is the celebration of the Germanic goddess Frige. In most other languages, this is the day of Venus. Spanish speaking people call this day Viernes. Venus and Frige are both goddesses associated with sex and fertility.

7. Saturday

This is one of the few days that modern English still retains the original planet name, rather than a Germanic god. As you may have guessed, this is Saturn's Day. This has also traditionally been the day of rest throughout history. In Spanish, Saturday is called Sabado, which means "the Sabbath day".

The names of the days of the week are very interesting if you will take the time to learn about them or reflect upon them from time to time. Since we say these words hundreds of times within a week, it might be nice to know what we're saying!

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