Everything about Monday totally explained
Monday (pron. ) is the
day of the week between
Sunday and
Tuesday.
Origins of the name
The name of the day's origins revolve mostly around the
moon, which in turn gets its name from
Mani (
Old English Mona), the
Germanic moon god. Similarly, the names in Latin-based languages such as the
Italian name (
Lunedì), the
French name (
lundi), the
Spanish name (
lunes), and the
Romanian name (
Luni) come from the
Latin name for
moon,
luna.
The
Russian word, eschewing pagan names, is понедельник (
poniediélnik), meaning "after Sunday."
In most of the Indian Languages, the word for Monday is
Somvar, with
Soma being the
Sanskrit name for the moon. The
Japanese word for Monday is getsuyōbi (月曜日) which means
day of the moon.
See here and here for a more comprehensive explanation.
Position in the week
In many cultures, Monday is held to be the first day of the week. This is the case in most of
Europe, parts of
Africa,
South America and
Australia. In
Asia – because the western calendar system was introduced only during the 20th century – many languages refer to Monday as the "day of the beginning". For example, Monday is
xingqi yi (星期一) in
Chinese, meaning day one of the week. The international standard,
ISO 8601, defines Monday as the first day of the week.
But according to the
Judeo-Christian count, Monday is the second day, the first being Sunday. This is also the standard format in
Canada and the
United States. Its name in
Arabic,
Armenian,
Georgian,
Greek,
Hebrew,
Persian,
Portuguese and
Syriac means "second day".
Quakers also traditionally refer to Monday as "Second Day" eschewing the
pagan origin of the English name "Monday". For similar reasons the official
liturgical calendar of the
Roman Catholic Church refers to Monday as "
Feria II". (The
Portuguese name for Monday reflects this, as do all the days' names except
Saturday and
Sunday: the Portuguese word for Monday is
segunda-feira.)
Modern culture usually looks at Monday as the beginning of the
workweek, as it's typically Monday when adults go back to work and children back to school after the
weekend. Thus, Mondays are often seen as a misfortune. In Middle Eastern countries, however, the beginning of the workweek is usually
Saturday (
Thursday and
Friday are observed as the weekend). In Israel, Sunday is the first day of the workweek. Friday is half a work day and Friday night and Saturday are the Sabbath.
Religious observances
In
Judaism and
Islam Mondays are considered auspicious days for fasting. The
Didache warned early
Christians not to fast on Mondays to avoid
Judaizing, and suggests Wednesdays instead.
In Judaism the
Torah is read in public on Monday mornings, and special penitential prayers are said on Monday, unless there's a special occasion for happiness which cancels them.
In the
Eastern Orthodox Church Mondays are days on which the
Angels are commemorated. The
Octoechos contains
hymns on this theme, arranged in an eight-week cycle, that are chanted on Mondays throughout the year. At the end of
Divine Services on Monday, the
dismissal begins with the words: "May Christ our True God, through the
intercessions of his most-pure
Mother, of the honorable, Bodiless Powers (for example, the angels) of
Heaven…". In many Eastern
monasteries Mondays are observed as
fast days; because Mondays are dedicated to the angels, and
monks strive to live an angelic life. In these monasteries the monks abstain from meat, fowl, dairy products, fish, wine and oil (if a
feast day occurs on a Monday, fish, wine and oil may be allowed, depending upon the particular feast).
Cultural references
In the
folk rhyme, "Monday's child is fair of face".
In Thailand, the color associated with Monday is yellow, see
Thai solar calendar
The Boomtown Rats have a famous song called "
I Don't Like Mondays".
Common occurences
United Kingdom
In the UK, most regional media programs focus on the weekend's sport events, since there's very rarely in-depth regional news at the weekends.
Astrology
Named days
Further Information
Get more info on 'Monday'.
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