Word
friday
Phoneticsfri·day, stress on the first syllable
/ˈfɹaɪˌdeɪ/
Countable & uncountable
In Japanese
Japanese from JMdict (EDRDG), CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences from Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR. All sources.
Definition
n. the day of the week that comes after Thursday and before Saturday. For many people, it is the last day of the work week.
n. the sixth day of the week, positioned between Thursday and Saturday. Often used as a temporal marker for the conclusion of the standard business week.
Examples
“We usually go out for dinner on Friday.”
“The office atmosphere is always more relaxed on Friday because everyone is looking forward to the weekend.”
“While the traditional work week concludes on Friday, many service industries experience their highest volume of customer traffic as the weekend begins.”
Examples
simple
“We usually go out for dinner on Friday.”
contextual
“The office atmosphere is always more relaxed on Friday because everyone is looking forward to the weekend.”
complex
“While the traditional work week concludes on Friday, many service industries experience their highest volume of customer traffic as the weekend begins.”
Usage
When used to describe a recurring event, it is often pluralized ('on Fridays').
Pitfall
I will see you in Friday
I will see you on Friday
Days of the week require the preposition 'on' rather than 'in'.
Etymology
From Middle English Friday, from Old English frīġedæġ. Compound of Frīġ and dæġ (“day”), from Proto-West Germanic *Frījā dag, a calque of Latin diēs Veneris, via an association (interpretātiō germānica) of the goddess Frigg with the Roman goddess of love Venus. See also friend. Compare West Frisian freed, German Low German Freedag, Friedag, Dutch vrijdag, German Freitag, Danish fredag. 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)”). Compare Japanese 金曜日.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Idioms
- Exam level
- CambridgeCambridgeCambridge English QualificationsThe exam suite from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, from A1 Movers up to C2 Proficiency. The benchmark names double as CEFR labels.A1 MoversIELTSIELTSInternational English Language Testing SystemThe 0–9 band test co-owned by the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge. Used for university entry, work, and migration.2.0–3.0TOEFL iBTTOEFL iBTTest of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-Based TestETS's academic English test, the standard route for US university admissions. Scored 0–120, with a 1–6 scale since 2026.1–6 scale: 1.0–1.50–23TOEICTOEICTest of English for International CommunicationETS's workplace English test, big in Japan and Korea. Listening & Reading scores 10–990 and tops out at C1.120–224EikenEikenTest in Practical English ProficiencyThe English proficiency test from the Eiken Foundation of Japan, widely taken by Japanese students. Grades run from 5 to 1, with Pre-1 and Pre-2 between them.Grade 3
- Frequency
- Very common
- Level
- A1 · BeginnerOxford
- Updated
- アルファベット
- 読み方の一覧 →
QR code
englishreference.com/q/friday