weekdays

Weekdays are the days of the week that are typically used for regular daily activities such as work and school. In many cultures, the standard sequence runs Monday through Sunday, with Monday as the first day of the workweek and Sunday marking the end or start of the weekend depending on local convention. The seven-day week is widely used worldwide, though some cultures use different cycles or names.

The English names for the weekdays derive from Germanic and Latin roots: Monday from Moon's Day; Tuesday from Tiw's Day; Wednesday from Woden (Odin); Thursday from Thor; Friday from Frigg or Freya; Saturday from Saturn; Sunday from the Sun. In many other languages, days are named after celestial bodies, gods, or numbers, and the order of days can differ.

ISO 8601 designates Monday as the first day of the week, while several countries and religious traditions consider Sunday as the first day. This affects weekly calendars, work planning, and international scheduling.

In terms of usage, weekdays typically refer to the period from Monday to Friday, while weekends refer to the days off, commonly Saturday and Sunday, though weekend patterns differ by region. Some countries observe Friday-Saturday weekends, and others implement Sunday-Thursday workweeks with Friday as a day of prayer or rest in some contexts. Abbreviations such as Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun are common in English-language contexts, with local variations elsewhere.