week
English
Alternative forms
- weeke (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English weke, from Old English wiċe, wucu (“week”), from Proto-West Germanic *wikā, from Proto-Germanic *wikǭ (“turn, succession, change, week”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyg-, *weyk- (“to bend, wind, turn, yield”). Related to Proto-Germanic *wīkaną (“to bend, yield, cease”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Wiek, West Frisian wike, Dutch week, German Woche, Danish uge, Norwegian Nynorsk veke, Swedish vecka, Icelandic vika, Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌺𐍉 (wikō, “turn for temple service”), Latin vicis, Finnish viikko. Related also to Old English wīcan (“to yield, give way”), English weak and wick.
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /wik/
- enPR: wēk, IPA(key): /wiːk/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (UK) (file) - Rhymes: -iːk
- Homophone: weak
Noun
week (plural weeks)
- Any period of seven consecutive days.
- 2013 July 6, “The rise of smart beta”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8843, page 68:
- 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.
- A period of seven days beginning with Sunday or Monday.
- A period of five days beginning with Monday.
- 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.
- A 4-day week consists of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Derived terms
- 0th week
- any day of the week
- any day of the week and twice on Sunday
- any day of the week and twice on Sundays
- as modern as next week
- a week from next Tuesday
- a week is a long time in politics
- be born last week
- boxing week
- bull week
- bush week
- dead week
- Ember week
- every day of the week
- every day of the week and twice on Sunday
- every day of the week and twice on Sundays
- fashion week
- five-day week
- flavor of the week
- flavour of the week
- for weeks on end
- freshers' week
- from week to week
- frosh week
- Golden Week
- hell week
- Holy Week
- I'm here all week
- knock someone into the middle of next week
- last week
- leap week
- light week
- modern as next week
- monster of the week
- noughth week
- prophetic week
- rag week
- reading week
- red week
- revision week
- schoolies week
- school week
- second Tuesday of the week
- shark week
- spirit week
- technical week
- tech week
- two week millionaire
- villain of the week
- weekend
- week-end
- week-long, weeklong
- weekly
- white week
- working week
- workweek
Translations
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See also
Adjective
week (not comparable)
- (postpositive) Seven days after (sometimes before) a specified date.
- I'll see you Thursday week.– "I'll see you a week from Thursday."
Afrikaans
Etymology
From Dutch week, from Middle Dutch weke, from Old Dutch *wika, from Proto-Germanic *wikǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *weyg- (“to bend, wind, turn, yield”). Compare English week, West Frisian wike, German Woche.
Pronunciation
Audio (file)
Dutch
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ʋeːk/
Audio (file) - Hyphenation: week
- Rhymes: -eːk
Etymology 1
From Middle Dutch wēke, from Old Dutch *wika, from Proto-West Germanic *wikā, from Proto-Germanic *wikǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *weyg- (“to bend, wind, turn, yield”).
Descendants
Etymology 2
From Middle Dutch wêec, from Old Dutch *wēk, from Proto-West Germanic *waikw, from Proto-Germanic *waikwaz.
Adjective
Inflection
Inflection of week | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
uninflected | week | |||
inflected | weke | |||
comparative | weker | |||
positive | comparative | superlative | ||
predicative/adverbial | week | weker | het weekst het weekste | |
indefinite | m./f. sing. | weke | wekere | weekste |
n. sing. | week | weker | weekste | |
plural | weke | wekere | weekste | |
definite | weke | wekere | weekste | |
partitive | weeks | wekers | — |
Antonyms
Derived terms
- weekdier
- weekhartig
- weekheid
- weke delen (in Dutch plurale tantum): soft tissues
- weken (verb)
Descendants
- Jersey Dutch: wîk
Etymology 3
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Anagrams
- kwee
- weke