Etymology

Singles' Day

Today it means: November 11th, a day for shopping and celebrating not being in a relationship, originating in China, the shopping event has spread worldwide. Full definition →

Chinese 光棍節 /光棍节
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The story

  1. Chinese · calque of光棍節 /光棍节
  2. English todaySingles' Day

Calque of Chinese 光棍節 /光棍节 (guānggùnjié). From being a day for single people who are not in a relationship, the complement of Valentine's Day. From Chinese slang for a bachelor without familial branches being a stick, and the set of ones in the date of 11/11 being a set of sticks, a set of singles. Originating at the University of Nanjing in the 1990s as Bachelors' Day, and popularized as a shopping event day by Alibaba in the 2000s.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.