The name "Sunday", the day of the Sun, is derived from Hellenistic astrology, where the seven planets, known in English as Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury and the Moon, each had an hour of the day assigned to them, and the planet which was regent during the first hour of any day of the week gave its name to that day. During the 1st and 2nd centuries, the week of seven days was introduced into Rome from Egypt, and the Roman names of the planets were given to each successive day.
Germanic peoples seem to have adopted the week as a division of time from the Romans, but they changed the Roman names into those of corresponding Teutonicdeities. Hence, the dies Solis became Sunday (German, Sonntag).
The English noun Sunday derived sometime before 1250 from sunedai, which itself developed from Old English (before 700) Sunnandæg (literally meaning "sun's day"), which is cognate to other Germanic languages, including Old Frisiansunnandei, Old Saxonsunnundag, Middle Dutchsonnendach (modern Dutch zondag), Old High Germansunnun tag (modern German Sonntag), and Old Norsesunnudagr (Danish and Norwegian søndag, Icelandic sunnudagur and Swedish söndag). The Germanic term is a Germanic interpretation of Latin dies solis ("day of the sun"), which is a translation of the ancient Greek Ἥλίου ημέρα" (Hēlíou hēméra).[7]
In most Indian languages, the word for Sunday is derived from Sanskrit Ravivāra or Adityavāra — vāra meaning day and Aditya and Ravi both being names for Surya, the Sun and the solar deity. Ravivāra is the first day cited in Jyotisha, which provides logical reason for giving the name of each weekday. In the Thai solar calendar, the name ("Waan Arthit") is derived from Aditya, and the associated colour is red.
In most Slavic languages other than Russian, the words for Sunday reflect the Christian commandment to abstain from work. Belarusian нядзеля (nyadzelya), Bulgarian неделя (nedelya), Croatian and Serbian nedjelja / недеља, Czech neděle, Macedonian недела (nedela), Polish niedziela, Slovak nedeľa, Slovenian nedelja and Ukrainian неділя (nedilya) are all cognates literally meaning "no work" or "day with no work".
In Russian, the word for Sunday is Воскресенье (Voskreseniye) meaning "resurrection" (that is, the day of a week which commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ).[8] In Old Russian, Sunday was also called неделя (nedelya), "free day", or "day with no work", but in the contemporary language this word means "week".
The name is similar in the Romance languages. In Italian, Sunday is called domenica, which also means "Lord's Day" (from Latin Dies Dominica). One finds similar cognates in French, where the name is dimanche, as well as Romanian duminică, and in Spanish and Portuguese, domingo.
In Chinese, Korean, and Japanese, Sunday is called 星期日 (Xīng qī rì), 일요일 (Il-yo-Il), and 日曜日 (Nichiyōbi) respectively, which all mean "sun day of the week".
The Arabic word for Sunday is الأحد (Al-Ahad), meaning "the first". It is usually combined with the word يوم (Yawm) meaning "day".
Latvian word for Sunday is svētdiena, literally "holy day". Lithuanian word is sekmadienis, literally "seventh day" (archaic; in contemporary Lithuanian, "seventh day" translates to septinta diena).
Position in the week
ISO 8601
The international standard ISO 8601 for representation of dates and times states that Sunday is the seventh and last day of the week.[6] This method of representing dates and times unambiguously was first published in 1988.
In the Judaic, Christian, and some Islamic traditions, Sunday has been considered the first day of the week. A number of languages express this position either by the name of the day or by the naming of the other days. In Hebrew it is called יום ראשון yom rishon, in Arabic الأحد al-ahad, in Persian and related languages یکشنبه yek-shanbe, all meaning "first".
In Greek, the names of the days Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (Greek: Δευτέρα, Greek: Τρίτη, Greek: Τετάρτη, and Greek: Πέμπτη) mean “second”, “third”, “fourth”, and “fifth”, respectively. This leaves Sunday in the first position of the week count. Similarly in Portuguese, where the days from Monday to Friday are counted as "segunda-feira", "terça-feira", "quarta-feira", "quinta-feira" and "sexta-feira". In Vietnamese, the working days in the week are named as: Thứ Hai (Second), Thứ Ba (Third), Thứ Tư (Fourth), Thứ Năm (Fifth), Thứ Sáu (Sixth), and Thứ Bảy (Seventh). Sunday is called "Chủ Nhật"(chữ Hán: 主日) meaning “Lord's Day”. Some colloquial text in the south of Vietnam and from the church may use a different reading of "Chúa Nhật"(in contemporary Vietnamese, "Chúa" means God or Lord and "Chủ" means own). In German, Wednesday is called Mittwoch, literally “mid-week”, implying the week runs from Sunday to Saturday.
In the Yoruba culture of West Africa, Sunday is called Oj̣ó ̣Aikú. Ojó Aiku is the day that begins a new week known as “Day of Rest”. It is the day Orunmila, the convener of Ifá to earth, buried the mother of Esu Odara and his wife, Imi. Since that occurrence, Yoruba people decided to refer to the day as Ojó Aiku.
Russian воскресение (Sunday) means “resurrection”.
Hungarianszerda (Wednesday), csütörtök (Thursday), and péntek (Friday) are Slavic loanwords, so the correlation with "middle", "four", and "five" are not evident to Hungarian speakers. Hungarians use Vasárnap for Sunday, which means "market day".
In the Maltese language, due to its Siculo-Arabic origin, Sunday is called Il-Ħadd, a corruption of wieħed, meaning "one". Monday is It-Tnejn, meaning "two". Similarly, Tuesday is It-Tlieta (three), Wednesday is L-Erbgħa (four), and Thursday is Il-Ħamis (five).
In Armenian, Monday is Yerkoushabti, literally meaning "second day of the week", Tuesday Yerekshabti "third day", Wednesday Chorekshabti "fourth day", Thursday Hingshabti "fifth day". Saturday is Shabat coming from the word Sabbath or Shabbath in Hebrew, and Kiraki, coming from the word Krak, meaning "fire", is Sunday, referring to the sun as a fire. Apostle John, in Revelations 1:10, refers to the "Lord's Day", Greek: Κυριακή ἡμέρα (kyriakḗ hēmera), that is, "the day of the Lord", possibly influencing the Armenian word for Sunday.
In many European countries, calendars show Monday as the first day of the week,[9] which follows the ISO 8601 standard.
In the Persian calendar, used in Iran and Afghanistan, Sunday is the second day of the week. However, it is called "number one" as counting starts from zero; the first day - Saturday - is denoted as day zero.
The ancient Romans traditionally used the eight-day nundinal cycle, a market week, but in the time of Augustus in the 1st century AD, a seven-day week also came into use.
Justin Martyr, in the mid-2nd century, mentions "memoirs of the apostles" as being read on "the day called that of the sun" (Sunday) alongside the "writings of the prophets."[11]
On 7 March 321, Constantine I, Rome's first Christian emperor, decreed that Sunday would be observed as the Roman day of rest:[12]
On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits; because it often happens that another day is not so suitable for grain-sowing or vine-planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost.[13]
Despite the official adoption of Sunday as a day of rest by Constantine, the seven-day week and the nundinal cycle continued to be used side by side until at least the Calendar of 354 and probably later.[14]
In 363, Canon 29 of the Council of Laodicea prohibited observance of the JewishSabbath (Saturday), and encouraged Christians to work on Saturday and rest on the Lord's Day (Sunday).[15] The fact that the canon had to be issued at all is an indication that adoption of Constantine's decree of 321 was still not universal, not even among Christians. It also indicates that Jews were observing the Sabbath on Saturday.
For most Christians the custom and obligation of Sunday rest is not as strict. A minority of Christians do not regard the day they attend church as important, so long as they attend. There is considerable variation in the observance of Sabbath rituals and restrictions, but some cessation of normal weekday activities is customary. Many Christians today observe Sunday as a day of church attendance.
In Roman Catholic liturgy, Sunday begins on Saturday evening. The evening Mass on Saturday is liturgically a full Sunday Mass and fulfills the obligation of Sunday Mass attendance, and Vespers (evening prayer) on Saturday night is liturgically "first Vespers" of the Sunday. The same evening anticipation applies to other major solemnities and feasts, and is an echo of the Jewish practice of starting the new day at sunset. Those who work in the medical field, in law enforcement, and soldiers in a war zone are dispensed from the usual obligation to attend church on Sunday. They are encouraged to combine their work with attending religious services if possible.[citation needed]
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Sunday begins at the Little Entrance of Vespers (or All-Night Vigil) on Saturday evening and runs until "Vouchsafe, O Lord" (after the "prokeimenon") of Vespers on Sunday night. During this time, the dismissal at all services begin with the words, "May Christ our True God, who rose from the dead ...." Anyone who wishes to receive Holy Communion at Divine Liturgy on Sunday morning is required to attend Vespers the night before (see Eucharistic discipline). Among Orthodox Christians, Sunday is considered to be a "Little Pascha" (Easter), and because of the Paschal joy, the making of prostrations is forbidden, except in certain circumstances. Leisure activities and idleness, being secular and offensive to Christ as they are time-wasting, are prohibited.[dubious – discuss]
Some languages lack separate words for "Saturday" and "Sabbath" (e. g. Italian, Portuguese). Outside the English-speaking world, Sabbath as a word, if it is used, refers to the Saturday (or the specific Jewish practices on it); Sunday is called the Lord's Day e. g. in Romance languages and Modern Greek. On the other hand, English-speaking Christians often refer to the Sunday as the Sabbath (other than Seventh-day Sabbatarians); a practice which, probably due to the international connections and the Latin tradition of the Roman Catholic Church, is more widespread among (but not limited to) Protestants. Quakers traditionally referred to Sunday as "First Day" eschewing the pagan origin of the English name, while referring to Saturday as the "Seventh day".[18]
In the United States and Canada, most government offices are closed on both Saturday and Sunday. The practice of offices closing on Sunday in government and in some rural areas of the United States stem from a system of blue laws. Blue laws were established in the early puritan days, which forbade secular activities on Sunday and were rigidly enforced. Some public activities are still regulated by these blue laws in the 21st century.[20] In 1985, twenty-two states in which religious fundamentalism remained strong maintained general restrictions on Sunday behavior.[21] In Oklahoma, for example, it is stated: "Oklahoma's statutes state that "acts deemed useless and serious interruptions of the repose and religious liberty of the community," such as trades, manufacturing, mechanical employment, horse racing, and gaming are forbidden. Public selling of commodities other than necessary foods and drinks, medicine, ice, and surgical and burial equipment, and other necessities can legally be prohibited on Sunday. In Oklahoma, a fine not to exceed twenty-five dollars may be imposed on individuals for each offense."[21] Because of these blue laws, many private sector retail businesses open later and close earlier on Sunday or do not open at all.
Many countries, particularly in Europe such as Sweden, France, Germany and Belgium, but also in other countries such as Peru, hold their national and local elections on a Sunday, either by law or by tradition.
In media
Many American and British daily newspapers publish a larger edition on Sundays, which often includes color comic strips, a magazine, and a coupon section. Others only publish on a Sunday, or have a "sister paper" with a different masthead that only publishes on a Sunday.
North American radio stations often play specialty radio shows such as Casey Kasem's countdown or other nationally syndicated radio shows that may differ from their regular weekly music patterns on Sunday morning or Sunday evening. In the United Kingdom, there is a Sunday tradition of chart shows on BBC Radio 1 and commercial radio; this originates in the broadcast of chart shows and other populist material on Sundays by Radio Luxembourg when the ReithianBBC's Sunday output consisted largely of solemn and religious programmes. The first Sunday chart show was broadcast on the Light Programme on 7 January 1962,[22] which was considered a radical step at the time. BBC Radio 1's chart show moved to Fridays in July 2015[23] but a chart update on Sundays was launched in July 2019.[24]
Period or older-skewing television dramas, such as Downton Abbey, Call the Midwife, Lark Rise to Candleford and Heartbeat are commonly shown on Sunday evenings in the UK; the first of these was Dr Finlay's Casebook in the 1960s.[25] Similarly, Antiques Roadshow has been shown on Sundays on BBC1 since 1979[26] and Last of the Summer Wine was shown on Sundays for many years until it ended in 2010.[27] On Sundays, BBC Radio 2 plays music in styles which it once regularly played but which are now rarely heard on the station, with programmes such as Elaine Paige on Sunday[28] and Sunday Night is Music Night[29] although more contemporary styles now make up a higher percentage of the station's Sunday output than previously; for example, Kendrick Lamar received a Sunday-night play on the station in March 2022.[30] Even younger-skewing media outlets sometimes skew older on Sundays within the terms of their own audience; for example, BBC Radio 1Xtra introduced an "Old Skool Sunday" schedule in the autumn of 2019.[31]
Many American, Australian and British television networks and stations also broadcast their political interview shows on Sunday mornings.
In the United States, National Football League games are usually played on Sunday
Major League Baseball usually schedules all Sunday games in the daytime except for the nationally televised Sunday Night Baseball matchup. Certain historically religious cities such as Boston and Baltimore among others will schedule games no earlier than 1:35 PM to ensure time for people who go to religious service in the morning can get to the game in time.
In the UK, some club and Premier League football matches and tournaments usually take place on Sundays. Rugby matches and tournaments usually take place in club grounds or parks on Sunday mornings. It is not uncommon for church attendance to shift on days when a late morning or early afternoon game is anticipated by a local community.
The Indian Premier League schedules two games on Saturdays and Sundays instead of one, also called Double-headers.
One of the remains of religious segregation in the Netherlands is seen in amateur football: The Saturday-clubs are by and large Protestant Christian clubs, who were not allowed to play on Sunday. The Sunday-clubs were in general Catholic and working class clubs, whose players had to work on Saturday and therefore could only play on Sunday.
In Ireland, Gaelic football and hurling matches are predominantly played on Sundays, with the first (previously second) and fourth (previously third) Sundays in September always playing host to the All-Ireland hurling and football championship finals, respectively.
Professional golf tournaments traditionally end on Sunday. Traditionally, those in the United Kingdom ended on Saturday, but this changed some time ago; for example, the Open ran from Wednesday to Saturday up to 1979[32] but has run from Thursday to Sunday since 1980.[33]
In the United States and Canada, National Basketball Association and National Hockey League games, which are usually played at night during the week, are frequently played during daytime hours - often broadcast on national television.
Most NASCAR Cup Series and IndyCar events are held on Sundays. Most Formula One World Championship races are likewise held on Sundays regardless of time zone/country, while MotoGP holds most races on Sundays, with Middle Eastern races being the exception on Saturday. All Formula One events and MotoGP events with Sunday races involve qualifying taking place on Saturday.
Astrology
Sunday is associated with the Sun and is symbolized by the symbol ☉.
Low Sunday, first Sunday after Easter, is also known as the Octave of Easter, White Sunday, Quasimodo Sunday, Alb Sunday, Antipascha Sunday, and Divine Mercy Sunday.
Passion Sunday, the fifth Sunday of Lent as the beginning of Passiontide (since 1970 for Roman Catholics in the ordinary form of the rite, the term remains only official among the greater title of the Palm Sunday, which used to be also the "2nd Sunday of Passiontide")
Septuagesima, Sexagesima and Quinquagesima Sunday are the last three Sundays before Lent. Quinquagesima ("fiftieth"), is the fiftieth day before Easter, reckoning inclusively; but Sexagesima is not the sixtieth day and Septuagesima is not the seventieth but is the sixty-fourth day prior. The use of these terms was abandoned by the Catholic Church in the 1970 calendar reforms (the Sundays before Lent are now simply "Sundays in ordinary time" with no special status). However, their use is still continued in Lutheran tradition: for example, "Septuagesimae".
Shavuot is the Jewish Pentecost, or 'Festival of Weeks'. For Karaite Jews it always falls on a Sunday.
^Lapsansky, Emma Jones (26 January 2003). Quaker Aesthetics: Reflections on a Quaker Ethic in American Design and Consumption, 1720-1920. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 65. ISBN978-0-8122-3692-7.
^Heyck, Thomas (27 September 2013). A History of the Peoples of the British Isles: From 1688 to 1914. Taylor & Francis. p. 251. ISBN9781134415205. Yet the degree of overlap between the middle class and nonconformity-Baptists, Congregregationalists, Wesleyan Methodists, Quakers, Presbyterians, and Unitarians-was substantial. ... Most nonconformist denominations ...frowned on drink, dancing, and the theater, and they promoted Sabbatarianism (the policy of prohibiting trade and public recreation on Sundays).
^Roth, Randolph A. (25 April 2002). The Democratic Dilemma: Religion, Reform, and the Social Order in the Connecticut River Valley of Vermont, 1791-1850. Cambridge University Press. p. 171. ISBN9780521317733. Except for the strong support of Episcopalians in Windsor and Woodstock, the Sabbatarians found their appeal limited almost exclusively to Congregationalists and Presbyterians, some of whom did not fear state action on religious matters of interdenominational concern.
^"Guide to Quaker Calendar Names". Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative) Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Retrieved 30 March 2017. In the 20th Century, many Friends began accepting use of the common date names, feeling that any pagan meaning has been forgotten. The numerical names continue to be used, however, in many documents and more formal situations."
^Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2002). The Mandaeans: ancient texts and modern people. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN0-19-515385-5. OCLC65198443.
^The Kaleidoscope British Independent Television Drama Research Guide 1955-2010 and The Kaleidoscope BBC Television Drama Research Guide 1936-2011, Kaleidoscope Publishing
Bacchiocchi, Samuele. From Sabbath to Sunday: a historical investigation of the rise of Sunday observance in early Christianity (Pontifical Gregorian University, 1977)
Cotton, John Paul. From Sabbath to Sunday: a study in early Christianity (1933)
Kraft, Robert A. "Some Notes on Sabbath Observance in Early Christianity." Andrews University Seminary Studies (1965) 3: 18–33. online
Land, Gary. Historical Dictionary of the Seventh-day Adventists] (Rowman & Littlefield, 2014)
González, Justo. "A Brief History of Sunday: From the New Testament to the New Creation" (Eerdmans, 2017)
