Friday

Origin

From Middle English Friday, from Old English frīġedæġ. Compound of Frīġ and dæġ (“day”), from Proto-West Germanic *Frījā dag, a calque of Latin diēs Veneris, via an association (interpretātiō germānica) of the goddess Frigg with the Roman goddess of love Venus. See also friend. Compare West Frisian freed, German Low German Freedag, Friedag, Dutch vrijdag, German Freitag, Danish fredag. Old Norse Frigg (genitive Friggjar), Old Saxon Fri, and Old English Frīġ are derived from Proto-Germanic *Frijjō. Frigg is cognate with Sanskrit प्रिया (priyā́, “wife”). The root also appears in Old Saxon fri (“beloved lady”); in Swedish fria, in Danish and Norwegian as fri (“to propose for marriage”); a related meaning exists in Icelandic as frjá (“to love”) and similarly in Dutch vrijen (“to make love (to have sex)”). Compare Japanese 金曜日.