English Reference
Word noun

weekday

n.
US /ˈwikˌdeɪ/ UK /wˈiːkdeɪ/ week·day
Definition
  1. 01 A2 Elementary

    any day of the week except for Saturday and Sunday.

    any day of the week from Monday to Friday inclusive, typically considered a working day in contrast to the weekend.

    Simple

    “I usually wake up at seven o'clock on a weekday to get to work.”

    In context

    “The train schedule is significantly more frequent on a weekday than it is during the weekend to accommodate the morning commute.”

    Usage

    Often used as a modifier before another noun, such as 'weekday mornings'.

    Synonyms
    workday
    Antonyms
    weekend
  2. 02 C2 Proficiency Archaic

    any day of the week from Monday to Sunday.

    any day of the week without distinction between workdays and the weekend.

    Simple

    “In the old diary, he recorded his thoughts for every weekday of the month.”

    In context

    “The archaic usage of the term encompassed every weekday, making no lexical distinction for the Sabbath or days of rest.”

    Teacher's tip

    This sense is archaic; learners should use 'day of the week' for this meaning in modern contexts.

    Synonyms
    day
Etymology

Inherited from Middle English wykeday, from Old English wicdæġ. By surface analysis, compound of week + day. Compare West Frisian wikedei (“weekday”), Dutch weekdag (“weekday”), German Wochentag (“weekday”), Danish ugedag (“weekday”), Swedish veckodag (“weekday”), Norwegian ukedag (“weekday”).

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Origin Old English wicdæġ
Level A2 · Elementary
Frequency Frequent
Updated