Saturday is the

day of the week In many languages, the names given to the seven days of the week are derived from the names of the classical planets in Hellenistic astronomy, which were in turn named after contemporary deities, a system introduced by the Sumerians and la ...

between

Friday Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth day ...

and

Sunday Sunday is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. In most Western countries, Sunday is a day of rest and a part of the weekend. It is often considered the first day of the week. For most observant adherents of Christianity, Sunday ...

. No later than the

2nd century The 2nd century is the period from 101 ( CI) through 200 ( CC) in accordance with the Julian calendar. It is considered part of the Classical era, epoch, or historical period. Early in the century, the Roman Empire attained its greatest ex ...

, the Romans named Saturday ("Saturn's Day") for the planet

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; h ...

, which controlled the first

hour An hour (symbol: h; also abbreviated hr) is a unit of time conventionally reckoned as of a day and scientifically reckoned between 3,599 and 3,601 seconds, depending on the speed of Earth's rotation. There are 60 minutes in an hour, and 24 ho ...

of that day, according to

Vettius Valens Vettius Valens (120 – c. 175) was a 2nd-century Hellenistic astrologer, a somewhat younger contemporary of Claudius Ptolemy. Valens' major work is the ''Anthology'' ( la, Anthologia), ten volumes in Greek written roughly within the period 150 t ...

. The day's name was introduced into West Germanic languages and is recorded in the

Low German : : : : : (70,000) (30,000) (8,000) , familycolor = Indo-European , fam2 = Germanic , fam3 = West Germanic , fam4 = North Sea Germanic , ancestor = Old Saxon , ancestor2 = Middle L ...

languages such as Middle Low German , ''saterdach'', Middle Dutch (Modern Dutch ) and Old English , ''Sæterndæġ'' or .

Origins

Between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD, the Roman Empire gradually replaced the eight-day Roman

nundinal cycle The nundinae (), sometimes anglicized to nundines,. were the market days of the ancient Roman calendar, forming a kind of weekend including, for a certain period, rest from work for the ruling class (patricians). The nundinal cycle, market w ...

with the seven-day week. The astrological order of the days was explained by

and

Dio Cassius Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

(and Chaucer gave the same explanation in his '' Treatise on the Astrolabe''). According to these authors, it was a principle of astrology that the heavenly bodies presided, in succession, over the hours of the day. The association of the weekdays with the respective deities is thus indirect, the days are named for the planets, which were in turn named for the deities. The Germanic peoples adapted the system introduced by the Romans but glossed their indigenous gods over the Roman deities in a process known as '' interpretatio germanica''. In the case of Saturday, however, the Roman name was borrowed directly by West Germanic peoples, apparently because none of the Germanic gods were considered to be counterparts of the Roman god

. Otherwise Old Norse and Old High German did not borrow the name of the Roman god (Icelandic , German ). In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Saturdays are days on which the

Theotokos ''Theotokos'' (Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are ''Dei Genitrix'' or ''Deipara'' (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations are " ...

( Mother of God) and All Saints are commemorated, and the day on which prayers for the dead are especially offered, in remembrance that it was on a Saturday that Jesus lay dead in the tomb. The Octoechos contains hymns on these themes, arranged in an eight-week cycle, that are chanted on Saturdays throughout the year. At the end of services on Saturday, the

dismissal Dismissal or dismissed may refer to: Dismissal *In litigation, a dismissal is the result of a successful ''motion to dismiss''. See motion *Termination of employment, the end of employee's duration with an employer **Dismissal (employment), ter ...

begins with the words: "May Christ our True God, through the intercessions of his most-pure Mother, of the holy, glorious and right victorious Martyrs, of our reverend and God-bearing Fathers…". For the Orthodox, Saturday — with the sole exception of Holy Saturday — is never a strict

fast day Fast Day was a holiday observed in some parts of the United States between 1670 and 1991. "A day of public fasting and prayer," it was traditionally observed in the New England states. It had its origin in days of prayer and repentance proclai ...

. When a Saturday falls during one of the fasting seasons (

Great Lent Great Lent, or the Great Fast, (Greek: Μεγάλη Τεσσαρακοστή or Μεγάλη Νηστεία, meaning "Great 40 Days," and "Great Fast," respectively) is the most important fasting season of the church year within many denominat ...

, Nativity Fast,

Apostles' Fast The Apostles' Fast, also called the Fast of the Holy Apostles, the Fast of Peter and Paul, or sometimes St. Peter's Fast, is a fast observed by Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Catholic, and Reformed Orthodox Christians. In the Byzan ...

Dormition Fast The Dormition of the Mother of God is a Great Feast of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches (except the East Syriac churches). It celebrates the "falling asleep" (death) of Mary the '' Theotokos'' ("Mother o ...

) the fasting rules are always lessened to an extent. The Great Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross and the

Beheading of St. John the Baptist The beheading of John the Baptist, also known as the decollation of Saint John the Baptist or the beheading of the Forerunner, is a biblical event commemorated as a holy day by various Christian churches. According to the New Testament, Hero ...

are normally observed as strict fast days, but if they fall on a Saturday or Sunday, the fast is lessened.

Name and associations

Today, Saturday has two names in modern

Standard German Standard High German (SHG), less precisely Standard German or High German (not to be confused with High German dialects, more precisely Upper German dialects) (german: Standardhochdeutsch, , or, in Switzerland, ), is the standardized variety ...

. The first word, , is always used in Austria, Liechtenstein, and the German-speaking part of

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, and generally used in southern and western Germany. It derives from Old High German , the first part (''sambaz'') of which derives from Greek , and this Greek word derives from Hebrew , . However, the current German word for Sabbath is . The second name for Saturday in German is , which derives from Old High German , and is closely related to the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

word . It means literally "Sun eve", i.e., "The day before Sunday". is generally used in northern and eastern Germany, and was also the official name for Saturday in East Germany. Even if these two names are used regionally differently, they are usually understood at least passively in the other part. In West Frisian there are also two words for Saturday. In Wood Frisian it is , and in Clay Frisian it is , derived from , a combination of Old Frisian , meaning ''sun'' and ''joen'', meaning eve. In the Westphalian dialects of

Low Saxon Low Saxon, also known as West Low German ( nds, Nedersassisch, Nedersaksies; nl, Nedersaksisch) are a group of Low German dialects spoken in parts of the Netherlands, northwestern Germany and southern Denmark (in North Schleswig by parts of th ...

, in East Frisian Low Saxon and in the Saterland Frisian language, Saturday is called , also akin to Dutch , which has the same linguistic roots as the English word ''Saturday''. It was formerly thought that the English name referred to a deity named ''Sætere'' who was venerated by the pre-Christian peoples of north-western Germany, some of whom were the ancestors of the Anglo-Saxons. Sætere was identified as either a god associated with the

harvest Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-i ...

of possible Slav origin, or another name for

Loki Loki is a god in Norse mythology. According to some sources, Loki is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mentioned as a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi or Na ...

a complex deity associated with both good and evil; this latter suggestion may be due to

Jacob Grimm Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm (4 January 1785 – 20 September 1863), also known as Ludwig Karl, was a German author, linguist, philologist, jurist, and folklorist. He is known as the discoverer of Grimm's law of linguistics, the co-author of th ...

. However, modern dictionaries derive the name from ''Saturn''. In most languages of India, Saturday is , meaning day, based on Shani, the Vedic god manifested in the planet

. In the Thai solar calendar of Thailand, the day is named from the Pali word for Saturn, and the color associated with Saturday is purple. In Pakistan, Saturday is , meaning the week. In Eastern Indian languages like Bengali Saturday is called , meaning Saturn's Day and is the first day of the Bengali Week in the Bengali calendar. In Islamic countries, Fridays are considered as the last or penultimate day of the week and are holidays along with Thursdays or Saturdays; Saturday is called , (cognate to

Sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, commanded by God to be kept as a holy day of rest, as G ...

) and it is the first day of the week in many Arab countries but the Last Day in other Islamic countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei,

Central Asian countries Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the former S ...

. In Japanese, the word Saturday is , , meaning 'soil day' and is associated with , : Saturn (the planet), literally meaning "soil star". Similarly, in Korean the word Saturday is , , also meaning earth day. The element Earth was associated with the planet Saturn in Chinese astrology and philosophy. The modern

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

name for Saturday, , literally means "washing-day" – a vestige of early colonized life when Māori converts would set aside time on the Saturday to wash their whites for Church on Sunday. A common alternative Māori name for Saturday is the transliteration . Quakers traditionally referred to Saturday as "Seventh Day", eschewing the "

pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...

" origin of the name. In Scandinavian countries, Saturday is called , , or , the name being derived from the old word ''

laugr or is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the ''l''-rune , meaning "water" or "lake" and meaning "leek". In the Anglo-Saxon rune poem, it is called "ocean". In the Younger Futhark, the rune is called "waterfall" in Icelandic and "wat ...

/laug'' (hence Icelandic name ), meaning bath, thus ''Lördag'' equates to bath-day. This is due to the Viking practice of bathing on Saturdays. The roots ''lör'', ''laugar'' and so forth are cognate to the English word '' lye'', in the sense of detergent. The Finnish and

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

names for the day, and , respectively, are also derived from this term.

Position in the week

The international standard ISO 8601 sets Saturday as the sixth day of the week. The three Abrahamic religions ( Judaism, Christianity, and

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

) regard Saturday as the seventh day of the week. As a result, many refused the ISO 8601 standards and continue to use Saturday as their seventh day.

Saturday Sabbath

For Jews, Messianics,

Seventh Day Baptists Seventh Day Baptists are Baptists who observe the Sabbath as the seventh day of the week, Saturday, as a holy day to God. They adopt a covenant Baptist theology, based on the concept of regenerated society, conscious baptism of believers by immers ...

and Seventh-day Adventists, the seventh day of the week, known as

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...

(or

for Seventh-day Adventists), stretches from sundown Friday to nightfall Saturday and is the day of rest. Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches distinguish between Saturday (Sabbath) and the Lord's Day (Sunday). Other Protestant groups, such as Seventh-day Adventists, hold that the Lord's Day is the Sabbath, according to the fourth commandment (Exodus 20:8), and not Sunday.

Astrology

In astrology, Saturn is associated with Saturday, its planet's symbol Saturn symbol (fixed width)

, and the astrological signs Capricorn and

Aquarius Aquarius may refer to: Astrology * Aquarius (astrology), an astrological sign * Age of Aquarius, a time period in the cycle of astrological ages Astronomy * Aquarius (constellation) * Aquarius in Chinese astronomy Arts and entertainment ...

In popular culture

Regional customs

* In most countries, Saturday is a weekend day (see

workweek The weekdays and weekend are the complementary parts of the week devoted to labour and rest, respectively. The legal weekdays (British English), or workweek (American English), is the part of the seven-day week devoted to working. In most of th ...

). * In

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, elections must take place on a Saturday. * In Israel, Saturday is the official

day of rest In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, commanded by God to be kept as a holy day of rest, as G ...

, on which all government offices and most businesses, including some public transportation, are closed. * In Nepal, Saturday is the last day of the week and is the only official weekly holiday. * In New Zealand, Saturday is the only day on which elections can be held. * In

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and Norway, Saturday has usually been the only day of the week when especially younger children are allowed to eat sweets, in

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

and in Norwegian. This tradition was introduced to limit dental caries, utilizing the results of the infamous

Vipeholm experiments The Vipeholm experiments were a series of human experiments where patients of Vipeholm Hospital for the intellectually disabled in Lund, Sweden, were fed large amounts of sweets to provoke dental caries (1945–1955). The experiments were spo ...

between 1945–1955. (See

festivities in Sweden Life of Swedish people Over 70% of Swedish people belong to the Lutheran Church of Sweden, but seldom go to church. Attendance is a bit higher among members of free churches such as Pentecostalists and the Salvation Army. Christenings, weddings ...

.) * In the U.S. state of Louisiana, Saturday is the preferred election day.

Slang

* The amount of criminal activities that take place on Saturday nights has led to the expression, "

Saturday night special Saturday night special is a colloquial term in the United States and Canada for inexpensive, compact, small-caliber handguns made of poor quality metal. Sometimes known as junk guns, some states define these guns by means of composition or mate ...

", a pejorative slang term used in the United States and Canada for any inexpensive handgun.

Arts, entertainment, and media

Comics and periodicals

* ''

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal ''Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal'' (''SMBC'') is a webcomic by Zach Weinersmith. The gag-a-day comic features few recurring characters or storylines, and has no set format; some strips may be a single panel, while others may go on for ten pan ...

'' is a single-panel webcomic by Zach Weiner. * '' The Saturday Evening Post'' * '' Saturday Night (magazine)'' (Canada) * ''

Saturday Night Magazine (U.S.) ''Saturday Night Magazine'' was a lifestyle and entertainment magazine created in 2003 at the University of Southern California by publisher and founder Michael Ritter. ''Saturday Night Magazine'' targeted a readership of 18- to 29-year-olds thro ...

Films

* The association of Saturday night with comedy shows on television lent its name to the film ''

Mr. Saturday Night ''Mr. Saturday Night'' is a 1992 American comedy-drama film that marked the directorial debut of its star, Billy Crystal. It focuses on the rise and fall of Buddy Young Jr., a stand-up comedian. Crystal produced and co-wrote the screenplay with ...

'', starring Billy Crystal. * It is common for clubs, bars and restaurants to be open later on Saturday night than on other nights. Thus "Saturday Night" has come to imply the party scene, and has lent its name to the films ''

Saturday Night Fever ''Saturday Night Fever'' is a 1977 American dance drama film directed by John Badham and produced by Robert Stigwood. It stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young Italian-American man from the Brooklyn borough of New York. Manero spends his ...

'', which showcased

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

discotheques, '' Uptown Saturday Night'', as well as many songs (see below).

Folk rhymes and folklore

* In the folk rhyme '' Monday's Child'', "Saturday's child works hard for a living". * In another rhyme reciting the days of the week, Solomon Grundy "Died on Saturday". * In folklore, Saturday was the preferred day to hunt

vampires A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths ...

, because on that day they were restricted to their coffins. It was also believed in the Balkans that someone born on Saturday could see a vampire when it was otherwise invisible, and that such people were particularly apt to become vampire hunters. Accordingly, in this context, people born on Saturday were specially designated as in Greek In and in

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

; the term has been rendered in English as " Sabbatarians".

Music

;Groups * The Saturdays is a female pop group ;Songs * The Nigerian popular song "''Bobo Waro Fero Satodeh''" ("Everybody Loves Saturday Night") became internationally famous in the 1950s and was sung translated into many languages * "Saturday" (Fall Out Boy song) from the album '' Take This to Your Grave'' * "Saturday" (Kids in Glass Houses song) from the album '' Smart Casual'' * " Saturday in the Park" is a song by Chicago * "Saturday Night" is a song by the Misfits from ''

Famous Monsters ''Famous Monsters'' is the fifth studio album by the American punk rock band Misfits, released on October 5, 1999. It is the second in the post- Danzig era of the band, and the last album to feature Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein, Michale Grave ...

'' * " Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" is an

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

song * " One More Saturday Night" is a

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

song.

Television

* Saturday morning is a notable television time block aimed at children while generally airing animated cartoons, although in the United States this has generally been phased out due to American television regulations requiring educational content be aired, along with Saturday outside activities for children * Saturday night is also a popular time slot for comedy shows on television in the US. The most famous of these is '' Saturday Night Live'', a sketch comedy show that has aired on NBC nearly every week since 1975. Other notable examples include '' Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell''. * The Grand Final of the popular pan-European TV show, ''

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

'', has always aired on a Saturday in May. * Saturday evenings are a time slot in the United Kingdom, devoted to popular TV shows such as ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

'', '' The Voice UK'', and '' The X Factor''. Many family game shows, for example ''Total Wipeout'' and ''Hole in the Wall'', also air on a Saturday evening.

Video Games

*'' Saturday Night Slam Masters'' – Published by Capcom Wrestling, 1993 video game *'' Saturday Morning RPG''

Sports

* In the United Kingdom, Saturday is the day most domestic fixtures of football are played. * In the United States, most regular season

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

games are played on Saturday. Saturday is also a common day for college basketball games.

References

{{Authority control 6 Saturday Eastern Christian liturgy