Etymograph

English

Tuesday

Tuesday comes from Middle English Tewesday, and goes back to Proto-West Germanic *Tīwas dag.

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*Tīwas dagliterally ‘Tiw's Day’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150tīwesdæġ
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500Tewesday
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1969Tuesday

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*Tīwas dagliterally ‘Tiw's Day’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150tīwesdæġ
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500Tewesday
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1969Tuesday

Earliest quotation: 1969, 1969 March 12, Rural Districts' Occupation: “An anti-Mao force has occupied many rural districts around…”

The story

From Middle English Tewesday, from Old English tīwesdæġ (‘Tuesday’), from Proto-West Germanic *Tīwas dag (“Tuesday”, literally “Tiw's Day”). This was a Germanic interpretation of Latin diēs Mārtis, itself a translation of Ancient Greek Ἄρεως ἡμέρα (Áreōs hēméra) (interpretatio romana).

Every English word from Proto-West Germanic *Tīwas dag

Today it means

noun The third day of the week in many religious traditions, and the second day of the week in systems that use the ISO 8601 norm; it follows Monday and precedes Wednesday.

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

Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *Tīwas dag / Tuesday

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