weekend

See also: week-end

English

Alternative forms

• week-end (dated)
• w/e (occasional use)

Etymology

From week +‎ end. Originally a Northern England regionalism (see 1903 quotation), in more general use from late 19th century.^[1][2] Compare Saterland Frisian Wiekeneende (“weekend”), West Frisian wykein (“weekend”), Dutch weekeinde (“weekend”), German Low German Wekenenn (“weekend”), German Wochenende (“weekend”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /wiːˈkɛnd/, /ˈwiːˌkɛnd/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈwiˌkɛnd/
• (New Zealand, General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈwiːˌkend/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛnd, -iːkɛnd
• Homophone: weakened (some accents)

Noun

weekend (plural weekends)

1. The break in the working week, usually two days including the traditional holy or sabbath day. Thus in western countries, Saturday and Sunday.
   • 1874 July–December, W. Senior, “With the Herring Fleet”, in The Gentleman's Magazine, page 704:

     “They can live upon barley-meal without a morsel of meat from week-end to week-end, can these miserable Sawnies,” quoth another.

   • 1903, Francis Markham with Sir Clements Robert Markham, Recollections of a town boy at Westminster, 1849–1855, page 34:

     […] often took a few boys down there for what we North Country folk call the week-end — Saturday and Sunday; it was also used as a sanatorium if required.

   • 1921 June 21, The Earl of Oxford and Asquith, K.G., chapter XX, in Memories and Reflections 1852–1927, volume 2, Cassell and Company, published 1928, →OCLC, page 197:

     I love a phrase of Dizzy's in one of his later letters to Lady Bradford, whom he reproaches for her addiction to what we now call week-end visits to country houses: “the monotony of organized platitude.”

Usage notes

• Historically in North America and parts of Europe, people would often work on Saturday as well, or at least until noon on Saturday. Thus the “weekend” might begin at noon or later on Saturday in older texts.

To describe the soonest upcoming weekend:

• (UK, Australia, New Zealand) “at the weekend”, “on the weekend”, “this weekend”, “for the weekend”
  • 1886, New Zealand Parliament, “Parliamentary debates”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), volume 324, page 2371:

    Let them work at their ordinary jobs during the week, and then take them out of circulation at the weekend, which is usually the time when the trouble is ...

  • 2009, Great Britain House of Commons: Business and Enterprise Committee, “Pre-appointment Hearing with the Chairman-elect of Ofcom, Dr. Colette Bowe”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), page 16:

    Whether it is on the BBC, ITV or commercial radio does not really matter. ...can give you a radio example of two things I was listening to at the weekend.

• (US, Canada) “on the weekend”, “this weekend”, “for the weekend” (“at the weekend” is not used)
  • 2002, United States Senate: Committee on Armed Services, Department of Defense authorization for appropriations for fiscal year 2002, page 722:

    I am going to Moscow on the weekend to participate in the discussion, ...

Derived terms

• dirty weekend
• freakend
• hen weekend
• like a wet weekend
• long weekend
• lost weekend
• nonweekend
• something for the weekend
• stag weekend
• weekend bag
• weekend dad
• weekend effect
• weekender
• weekendful
• weekendly
• weekend warrior
• weekendy

 

Related terms

• weekday

 

Descendants

• → Arabic: ويكند
• → Armenian: վիքենդ (vikʻend)
• → Czech: víkend
• → Danish: weekend
• → French: weekend
• → German: Wochenende (calque)
• → Hungarian: víkend
• → Italian: weekend
• → Macedonian: викенд (vikend)
• → Dutch: weekend
• → Polish: weekend
• → Romanian: weekend
• → Russian: уик-энд (uik-end)
• → Serbo-Croatian: vìkend
• → Slovak: víkend
• → Swedish: weekend

Translations

break in the working week

Afrikaans: naweek Albanian: fundjavë f, uikend m Arabic: نِهَايَة الْأُسْبُوع f (nihāyat al-ʔusbūʕ), عَطْلَة الْأُسْبُوع f (ʕaṭlat al-ʔusbūʕ) Gulf Arabic: ويكند m (wīkand) Hijazi Arabic: ويكند m (wīkind), نهاية الأسبوع f (nihāyat al-ʔusbūʕ) South Levantine Arabic: آخر الأسبوع m (ʔāḵer il-ʔusbūʕ), نهاية الأسبوع f (nihāyet il-ʔusbūʕ) Armenian: շաբաթ-կիրակի (šabatʻ-kiraki), շաբաթվա վերջ (šabatʻva verǰ), ուիքենդ (uikʻend), վիքենդ (hy) (vikʻend), շաբաթավերջ (hy) (šabatʻaverǰ) Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܫܘܼܠܵܡܵܐ ܕܫܵܒ݂ܘܿܥܵܐ m (šulāmā d-šāḇoʿā) Azerbaijani: həftəsonu, altı-bazar Basque: asteburu (eu), astebukaera (eu) Belarusian: выхадны́я m pl (vyxadnýja), уік-э́нд m (uik-énd), кане́ц ты́дня m (kanjéc týdnja) Breton: dibenn-sizhun m Bulgarian: уике́нд (bg) m (uikénd), съ́бота и неде́ля (sǎ́bota i nedélja) Burmese: အားလပ်ရက် (a:lap-rak) Catalan: cap de setmana (ca) m Chinese: Cantonese: 週末／周末 (zau1 mut6), 禮拜尾／礼拜尾 (lai5 baai3 mei5) Hokkien: 週末／周末 (chiu-boa̍t) Mandarin: 週末／周末 (zh) (zhōumò) Czech: konec týdne m, víkend (cs) m Danish: weekend (da) c Dutch: weekend (nl) n, weekeinde (nl) n Esperanto: semajnfino Estonian: nädalavahetus (et) Faroese: vikuskifti n Finnish: viikonloppu (fi) French: week-end (fr) m, weekend (fr) m, fin de semaine (fr) f (especially Canada) Galician: fin de semana (gl) f, finde m (colloquial) Georgian: უიკენდი (uiḳendi), შაბათ-კვირა (šabat-ḳvira) German: Wochenende (de) n, Weekend (de) n (rare) Greek: σαββατοκύριακο (el) n (savvatokýriako) Greenlandic: weekendi Hawaiian: hopena pule Hebrew: סוֹף שָׁבוּעַ m (sof shavúa') (Friday and Saturday in Israel), סוֹפָ״שׁ m (sofá"sh), סופש m (sofash) Hindi: सप्ताहांत m (saptāhānt), वीकेंड m (vīkeṇḍ) Hungarian: hétvége (hu) Hunsrik: Wochenn n Icelandic: helgi (is) f Indonesian: akhir pekan (id) Irish: deireadh seachtaine m Italian: weekend (it) m, fine settimana (it) m or f Japanese: 週末 (ja) (しゅうまつ, shūmatsu), 土日 (ja) (どにち, donichi) Kazakh: демалыс күндері (demalys künderı), уик-энд (uik-énd) Khmer: ចុងអាទិត្យ (cong ʼaatɨt) Korean: 주말(週末) (ko) (jumal) Kyrgyz: демалыш күндөрү (demalış kündörü) Ladino: fin de semana Lao: ທ້າຍສັບປະດາ (thāi sap pa dā) Latgalian: nedeļgols m Latvian: vīkends (lv) m Lithuanian: savaitgalis m Macedonian: викенд m (vikend) Malay: hujung minggu (ms) Malayalam: വാരാന്ത്യം (ml) (vārāntyaṁ) Maltese: tmiem il-ġimgħa m Maori: mutunga wiki, wīkene Mongolian: Cyrillic: амралтын өдөр (mn) (amraltyn ödör) Navajo: Damóo yázhí dóó Damóo Norwegian: Bokmål: helg m or f Nynorsk: helg f Occitan: dimenjada (oc) f Pannonian Rusyn: викенд m (vikend) Persian: آخر هفته (âxer-e hafte) Plautdietsch: Wäakjenenj Polish: weekend (pl) m inan, koniec tygodnia m Portuguese: final de semana (pt), fim de semana (pt) Romanian: sfârșit de săptămână n, weekend n Russian: уик-э́нд (ru) m (uik-énd), выходны́е (ru) m pl (vyxodnýje), коне́ц неде́ли m (konéc nedéli), суббо́та и воскресе́нье (subbóta i voskresénʹje) Samoan: fa'ai'uga o (sm) vāiaso Scottish Gaelic: deireadh-seachdain m Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: вѝкенд m Roman: vìkend (sh) m Slovak: víkend (sk) m, koniec týždňa m Slovene: vikend m, konec tedna m Sotho: wikente Spanish: fin de semana (es) m, finde (es) m (colloquial) Sranan Tongo: wikènt Swahili: wikendi (sw) Swedish: helg (sv) c, veckoslut (sv) n, weekend (sv) c Tajik: охири ҳафта (oxir-i hafta) Tetum: semana rohan Thai: สุดสัปดาห์ (sùt-sàp-daa), วันสุดสัปดาห์ (wan sùt-sàp-daa) Tongan: please add this translation if you can Turkish: hafta sonu (tr) Ukrainian: вихідні́ m pl (vyxidní), уїк-е́нд m (ujik-énd), кіне́ць ти́жня m (kinécʹ týžnja) Urdu: ہفتے کے آخر (hafte ke āxir), اختتام ہفتہ (ixtatām-e-hafta), آخر ہفتہ (āxir-e-hafta), ختم ہفتہ (xatam-e-hafta), ہفتے کا اختتام (hafte kā ixtatām) Uzbek: hafta oxiri Vietnamese: cuối tuần (vi) Welsh: penwythnos (cy) m Yiddish: סוף־וואָך m (sof-vokh)

Verb

weekend (third-person singular simple present weekends, present participle weekending, simple past and past participle weekended)

1. To spend the weekend.

   We'll weekend at the beach.

Adjective

weekend (not comparable)

1. Of, relating to or for the weekend.

   I'm wearing my weekend shoes.

2. Occurring at the weekend.

   a weekend break

Translations

of, relating to or for the weekend

Esperanto: semajnfina Faroese: vikuskiftis- Finnish: viikonloppu-, viikonloppuinen Hungarian: hétvégi (hu) Macedonian: ви́кенд- (víkend-) Polish: weekendowy (pl) Slovak: víkendový

occurring at the weekend

Esperanto: semajnfina Faroese: vikuskiftis- Finnish: viikonloppuinen Hungarian: hétvégi (hu) Macedonian: ви́кенд- (víkend-) Polish: weekendowy (pl) Slovak: víkendový

References

1. Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “weekend”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
2. weekend, week-end at the Google Books Ngram Viewer.

Further reading

• weekend on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from English weekend.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈʋiːˌɡ̊ɛnˀd̥], [ˈwiːˌɡ̊ɛnd̥]

Noun

weekend c (singular definite weekenden, plural indefinite weekender)

1. weekend

Inflection

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	weekend	weekenden	weekender	weekenderne
genitive	weekends	weekendens	weekenders	weekendernes

Declension of weekend

See also

• weekend on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^da

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English weekend.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʋikɛnt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: week‧end

Noun

weekend n (plural weekenden or weekends, diminutive weekendje n)

1. weekend

Synonyms

• weekeinde

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English weekend.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wi.kɛnd/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

weekend m (plural weekends)

1. post-1990 spelling of week-end

   Synonym: fin de semaine

Italian

Alternative forms

• week-end

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English weekend.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wiˈkɛnd/^[1]
• Rhymes: -ɛnd

Noun

weekend m (invariable)

1. weekend

   Synonym: fine settimana

References

1. week-end in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

Polish

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:

weekend

Wikipedia ^pl

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English weekend.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwi.kɛnt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ikɛnt
• Syllabification: wee‧kend

Noun

weekend m inan (related adjective weekendowy)

1. weekend (break in the working week)

   Synonym: dwudzionek

Declension

	singular	plural
nominative	weekend	weekendy
genitive	weekendu	weekendów
dative	weekendowi	weekendom
accusative	weekend	weekendy
instrumental	weekendem	weekendami
locative	weekendzie	weekendach
vocative	weekendzie	weekendy

Declension of weekend

Derived terms

noun

• weekendowicz

 

verb

• weekendować impf

 

Related terms

adverb

• weekendowo

 

Further reading

• weekend in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• weekend in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Alternative forms

• week-end — dated

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English weekend. First attested in 1970.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈuj.kend/, /ˈwi.kend/
• Hyphenation: week‧end
• Rhymes: -ujkend, -ikend

Noun

weekend n (plural weekenduri)

1. weekend

Declension

	singular			plural
	+ indefinite article	+ definite article		+ indefinite article	+ definite article
nominative/accusative	(un) weekend	weekendul		(niște) weekenduri	weekendurile
genitive/dative	(unui) weekend	weekendului		(unor) weekenduri	weekendurilor
vocative	weekendule			weekendurilor

References

• weekend in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

Swedish

Etymology

From English weekend.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wiːk.ɛnd/, /viːk.ɛnd/

Noun

weekend c

1. a weekend (break in the working week)

Declension

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	weekend	weekends
	definite	weekenden	weekendens
plural	indefinite	weekender	weekenders
	definite	weekenderna	weekendernas

Declension of weekend

Synonyms

• helg
• veckoslut

References

• weekend in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• weekend in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• weekend in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)