Etymograph

English

Friday

Friday comes from Middle English Friday, and goes back to Proto-West Germanic *Frījā dag.

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*Frījā dagreconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150frīġedæġ
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500Friday
  4. Englishearliest quotation 2019same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*Frījā dagreconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150frīġedæġ
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500Friday
  4. Englishearliest quotation 2019same form

Earliest quotation: 2019, Matthew Cappucci, For the first time in 13 years, a full moon rises this Frida: “For a micromoon and Friday the 13th full moon…”

The story

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)’).

Every English word from Proto-West Germanic *Frījā dag

Today it means

noun The sixth day of the week in many religious traditions, and the fifth day of the week in systems using the ISO 8601 norm; the Muslim Sabbath; it follows Thursday and precedes Saturday.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *Frījā dag / Friday

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