Week

Pronunciation

• enPR: wÄ“k, IPA: /wiːk/
• Rhymes: -iːk
• Homophones: weak

Origin

From Middle English weke, from Old English wice, wucu ("week"), from Proto-Germanic *wikǭ ("turn, succession, change, week"), from Proto-Indo-European *weig-, *weik- ("to bend, wind, turn, yield"). Related to Proto-Germanic *wīkaną ("to bend, yield, cease"). The Dutch noun derives from a related verb *waikwaz ("to yield"), via the current Dutch form wijken ("to cede, give way").

Related words are Old High German wohha (Modern German Woche), Old Frisian wike (West Frisian wike), Middle Dutch weke ("week") (modern Dutch week), Old Saxon wika, Old Norse vika (Icelandic vika, Norwegian veke Danish uge), Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌺𐍉 (wikô, "turn for temple service"), Old English wīcan ("").

Noun

1. Any period of seven consecutive days.
• 2013-07-06, The rise of smart beta, Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return.
2. A period of seven days beginning with Sunday or Monday.
3. A subdivision of the month into longer periods of work days punctuated by shorter weekend periods of days for markets, rest, or religious observation such as a sabbath.
4. Seven days after (sometimes before) a specified date.
   I'll see you Thursday week.

Derived terms