Meanings
plural Wednesdays
- The fourth day of the week in many religious traditions, and the third day of the week in systems using the ISO 8601 norm; it follows Tuesday and precedes Thursday.
US District Judge James Boasberg ruled Wednesday that “probable cause exists” to hold Trump administration officials in criminal contempt for violating his orders in mid-March halting the use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members.
2025 April 16, Devan Cole and Katelyn Polantz, “Boasberg finds ‘probable cause exists’ to hold Trump administration in contempt for violating orders on deportation flights”, in CNN, archived from the original on 25 Apr 2025Synonyms: Fourth Day, hump day, Wed, Wed., Weds
- UKball gamesNickname for Sheffield Wednesday of the Football League.
- CanadaUSinformalnot comparableOn Wednesday.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe fourth day of the week in many religious traditions, and the third day of the week in systems using the ISO 8601 norm; it follows Tuesday and precedes Thursday.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latindiēs Mercuriī“day of Mercury”
- Proto-West Germanic*Wōdinas dag
- Proto-West Germanic*Wōdanas dag
- Old English*wēdnesdæġ“Wednesday”
- Middle EnglishWednesday
- EnglishWednesday
From Middle English Wednesday, from unattested Old English *wēdnesdæġ (“Wednesday”), synchronically an i-mutated form of attested wōdnesdæġ (itself from Proto-West Germanic *Wōdanas dag, its reflex Middle English Wodnesdei falling into disuse), from Proto-West Germanic *Wōdinas dag also attested in Old Frisian wednesdei and Middle Dutch wenesdach, equivalent to Woden + -s- + day. In any case, a calque (interpretātiō germānica) of Latin diēs Mercuriī (“day of Mercury”) and Koine Ancient Greek ἡμέρα (hēméra, “day”) Ἑρμοῦ (Hermoû, “of Hermes”), via an association of the god Odin (“Woden”) with Mercury and Hermes. See also Japanese 水曜日 (“Mercury's day”). Cognates Cognate with Scots Wadensday (“Wednesday”), Yola Wennesdei (“Wednesday”), West Frisian woansdei (“Wednesday”), Afrikaans Woensdag (“Wednesday”), Central Franconian Jodesdaach (“Wednesday”), Dutch, West Flemish woensdag (“Wednesday”), Dutch Low Saxon woensdag, woonsdag, wonsdag (“Wednesday”), German Wodenstag, Wotanstag (“Wednesday”), Low German Goonsdag, Woonsdag (“Wednesday”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, Swedish onsdag (“Wednesday”), Faroese ónsdagur (“Wednesday”), Icelandic óðinsdagur (“Wednesday”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans Woensdag
- Woensdagday of the week
Ancient Greek ἡμέρᾱ Ἑρμοῦ, Ἑρμ(ε)ίᾱ
- ἡμέρᾱ Ἑρμοῦ (hēmérā Hermoû)day of the week
- Ἑρμ(ε)ίᾱday of the week
Arabic الْأَرْبِعَاء, يَوْم الْأَرْبِعَاء
- الْأَرْبِعَاء (al-ʔarbiʕāʔ)day of the week
- يَوْم الْأَرْبِعَاء (yawm al-ʔarbiʕāʔ)day of the week
Basque asteazken
- asteazkenday of the week
Bengali বুধবার
- বুধবার (budhbar)day of the week
Bulgarian сряда́
- сряда́ (srjadá)day of the week
Catalan dimecres
- dimecresday of the week
Chinese Cantonese 星期三, 禮拜三 /礼拜三
- 星期三 (sing¹ kei⁴ saam¹)day of the week
- 禮拜三 /礼拜三 (lai⁵ baai³ saam¹)day of the week
- 周三 (zau¹ saam¹)day of the week
Chinese Mandarin 星期三, 禮拜三 /礼拜三
- 星期三 (xīngqīsān)day of the week
- 禮拜三 /礼拜三 (lǐbàisān)day of the week
- 週三 /周三 (zhōusān)day of the week
Czech středa
- středaday of the week
Danish onsdag
- onsdagday of the week
Dutch woensdag, 's woensdags
- woensdagday of the week
- 's woensdagson Wednesday
- woensdagson Wednesday
Esperanto merkredo, merkrede
- merkredoday of the week
- merkredeon Wednesday
Estonian kolmapäev
- kolmapäevday of the week
Finnish keskiviikko, keskiviikkona
- keskiviikkoday of the week
- keskiviikkonaon Wednesday
French mercredi
- mercrediday of the week
German Mittwoch, Wotanstag
- Mittwochday of the week
- Wotanstagday of the week
- Wodanstagday of the week
- Wodenstagday of the week
- mittwochson Wednesday
Greek Τετάρτη
- Τετάρτη (Tetárti)day of the week
Hawaiian Pōʻakolu
- Pōʻakoluday of the week
Hebrew יוֹם רְבִיעִי, יום ד׳
- יוֹם רְבִיעִי (yom revií)day of the week
- יום ד׳ (yom dálet)day of the week
Hindi बुधवार, बुध
- बुधवार (budhvār)day of the week
- बुध (budh)day of the week
- ज्ञवार (jñavār)day of the week
Hungarian szerda
- szerdaday of the week
Icelandic miðvikudagur
- miðvikudagurday of the week
Indonesian hari rabu
- hari rabuday of the week
Irish Céadaoin, Dé Céadaoin
- Céadaoinday of the week
- Dé Céadaoinon Wednesday
Italian mercoledì
- mercoledìday of the week
Japanese 水曜日, 水曜
- 水曜日 (suiyōbi)day of the week
- 水曜 (suiyō)day of the week
Korean 수요일, 수요
- 수요일 (suyoil)day of the week
- 수요 (suyo)day of the week
Latin diēs Mercuriī, fēria quārta
- diēs Mercuriīday of the week
- fēria quārtaday of the week
- quārta fēriaday of the week
Latvian trešdiena, trešdien
- trešdienaday of the week
- trešdienon Wednesday
Lithuanian trečiadienis
- trečiadienisday of the week
Malay رابو, اربع
- رابوday of the week
- اربعday of the week
- هاري تيݢday of the week
- Rabuday of the week
- Arbaaday of the week
- Hari Tigaday of the week
Māori Wenerei, Rātoru
- Wenereiday of the week
- Rātoruday of the week
- Rāapaday of the week
Norwegian Bokmål onsdag
- onsdagday of the week
Polish środa
- środaday of the week
Portuguese quarta-feira
- quarta-feiraday of the week
Punjabi ਬੁੱਧਵਾਰ
- ਬੁੱਧਵਾਰ (buddhavār)day of the week
Romanian miercuri, miercuri
- miercuriday of the week
- miercurion Wednesday
- miercureaon Wednesday
Russian среда́
- среда́ (sredá)day of the week
Scottish Gaelic Diciadain
- Diciadainday of the week
Slovak streda, v stredu
- stredaday of the week
- v streduon Wednesday
Spanish miércoles
- miércolesday of the week
Swahili Jumatano
- Jumatanoday of the week
Swedish onsdag
- onsdagday of the week
Tagalog Miyerkoles, miyerkoles
- Miyerkolesday of the week
- miyerkolesday of the week
Tamil புதன், புதன்கிழமை
- புதன் (putaṉ)day of the week
- புதன்கிழமை (putaṉkiḻamai)day of the week
Thai วันพุธ, พุธ
- วันพุธ (wan pút)day of the week
- พุธ (pút)day of the week
Turkish çarşamba, çarşamba
- çarşambaday of the week
- çarşambaon Wednesday
Ukrainian середа́
- середа́ (seredá)day of the week
Urdu بُدھ, بُدْھوار
- بُدھ (budh)day of the week
- بُدْھوار (budhvār)day of the week
- چَہار شَن٘بَہ (cahār śamba)day of the week
Vietnamese thứ tư
- thứ tưday of the week
Welsh dydd Mercher, ddydd Mercher
- dydd Mercherday of the week
- ddydd Mercheron Wednesday
Yiddish מיטוואָך
- מיטוואָך (mitvokh)day of the week
Zulu uLwesithathu
- uLwesithathuday of the week
Cite this entry
Wednesday. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Wednesday
“Wednesday.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Wednesday. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Wednesday,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Wednesday.
Source: Wednesday on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.