The days of the week: the days of the week in Spanish

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Establishing the names of days of the week in spanish, the days of the week,makes a historical journey that begins in primitive astrology. Thanks to the cultural exchange promoted during the achievements of Alexander the Great, this knowledge reached the Greece and then to Pomegranate, cradle of Latin languages.

The Judeo-Christian tradition and customs, prevalent in the Christian Roman Empire, also account for the origin of some of the days of the week. As they are commonly used words, the days of the week also make up the content of various popular sayings in the Spanish language.

Read too: the çolores – Spanish color vocabulary

Table with the days of the week

In Spanish	Abbreviation	Equivalent in Portuguese
moons	lun. (L.)	Monday
martes	sea. (M.)	Tuesday
myercoles	mie. (Mi.)	Wednesday
youth	jue. (J.)	Thursday
come	come. (V.)	Friday
Saturday	Sat. (S.)	Saturday
Sunday	Sun. (D.)	Sunday

Origin of the names of the days of the week

The names of the days of the week in Spanish go back to observation of celestial objects

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by ancient civilizations, especially Babylonian and mesopotamian. Unlike the stars, which maintained their apparent position, there were seven stars that moved in the sky during the year: the Sun, Moon and planets Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. Each of these seven stars was assigned regency over a day, which is why the week as a seven day cycle.

this way of ordering the days of the week reached the Roman Empire, cradle of Latin civilizations, by Greek influence. The Greeks, in turn, adopted this model during the conquests of Alexander the Great, thanks to the contact they had with Mediterranean and Central Asian cultures.

With all these influences, Spanish weekday names have evolved from Latin to their modern form. In Latin, the names of the days of the week demonstrate their relationship with the planets observed by the ancients:

Latin	Meaning
[dies] lunis	moon day
[dies] Martis	mars day
[dies] Mercury	Mercury day
[dies] Iovis	jupiter day
[dies] Venĕris	Venus day

Saturdayand Sundayconstitute exceptions to that standard. The origin of these names dates back to Jewish and Christian cultures. The biblical book of Genesis reports that God created the world and rested on the seventh day, which he “sanctified” and “blessed” (Genesis 2:3). Later, during the Hebrew Exodus, the Ten Commandments were instituted, and one of them commanded keeping the Sabbath (Exodus 20:10). This tradition was adopted by the Jews, who named the seventh day of the week as sabbath or "the day of rest". Of word sabbath comes from Saturday, both in Spanish and in Portuguese.

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Sunday has its origin in the Latin expression [dies] dominic, which means "day of the Lord". The expression alludes to the day that, according to the Bible, Jesus Christ was resurrected: the day after the sabbath (Matthew 28:1). In Christian tradition, Sunday is the day of communal worship, the day dedicated to God.

Even though, in Spanish and Portuguese, their names have different origins in relation to other days of the week, the relationship of Saturday and Sunday with Saturn and the Sun, respectively, is explicit in others languages. In English, for example, these days are called Saturday and sunday.

See too: Estaciones del AñO - seasons of the year in spanish

Refranes (Popular sayings in Spanish)

In Spanish, refransare what we call in Portuguese the "popular sayings". They are short prayers that express some kind of common wisdom. Among them, there are many who use days of the week as their motto. Here are some examples:

Calling on the moons in the morning it is blooming every week.
(To cry Monday in the morning is crying all week.)
between y martes ni te cases ni te shipments.
(At Tuesdays 13 don't get married or travel.)
Miercoles de ceniza: empieza la penance and finishes la risa.
(Ash Wednesday: penance begins and laughter ends.)
you look like the day youth: always in the medium.
(you look like the day of Thursday: always in the middle.)
he come as dawns, dusks, and by the day do what it looks like.
(At Fridays, in the same way as dawns, dusks, and during the day do whatever you want.)
Every puerco le llega su Saturday.
(Each pig arrives its Saturday.)
I work right in Sunday el diablo se lo lleva.
(Work done to the sundays the devil carries.)

Mars 13

While, in Brazil, the unlucky day is the Friday 13, in Spanish-speaking cultures, that day is Tuesday the 13th, martes treble. The reason is that martesis the day of the week dedicated to Mars (Ares, in Greek mythology), the god of war and destruction. The allusion also applies to the planet Mars, known as the "red planet", the color being related to blood.