It’s All About Friday – Origins of the Name

 

All the world loves a Friday, the working world that is, my daughter Nais, is no exception, she eagerly anticipates this last day of the working week.

She loves her job but loves weekends more!

We’ve set up quite a tradition:

 “The Friday Picture”

 

 

Every Friday, (When I remember), I post a picture to her Facebook timeline, if I forget, she becomes quite miffed!

More often than not, I will receive a message; “Where’s my Friday Pic?”

 “The Friday Picture” has become the start to her weekend, so Nais, I dedicate this post to you, and here is all you ever wanted to know about Fridays, and it’s all about Venus, it’s the day of love!

 

 

Nais lives in Aghia Paraskevi, Saint Friday, a suburb of Northern Athens, named after Saint Paraskevi of Rome.

How fabulous is that? To live in a place named after the day you adore, Friday!

 

 

Origins of the word Friday

 

In Greek, the word for Friday is Paraskevi, meaning “to prepare”.

Like Saturday (Sabbato, Sabbath) and Sunday (Kyriaki, Day of The Lord) Friday has a religious significance, a day of preparation for the Sabbath, inherited by the Greek Orthodox culture from Jewish practices.

In English, the word Friday comes from an olde English word Frigedaeg;

 “Day of Frige”

This relates to the Norse Goddess, Frigg, and the Roman Goddess, Venus.

 

 

In old German, Friday is Friatag, in modern German, Freitag and in Dutch it is Vrijdag.

 In France, Italy and Spain, Friday is named after the Roman Goddess Venus, (Aphrodite in Greek mythology).

 Latin “Dies Veneris” or “The Day of Venus”, Vendredi in  French, Venerdi in  Italian, and Viernes in  Spanish.

 

 

Portugal, uses, neither a word derived from the Goddess Frigg, nor a word derived from the Goddess Venus, but uses instead, the word, “Sext-Feira”, meaning “The sixth day of liturgical celebration”, it was not allowed to devote days to pagan gods.

Another exception is Sardinia, where Friday is called Chenapura.

Chenapura is not a Latin word derived from Venus, but from the Latin, Cena Pura, given by the Jewish community, exiled to the island, meaning, pure dinner or pure supper, food specifically prepared for the Sabbath.

Most Slavic languages call Friday “The Fifth Day”

In Arabic, the word Friday, al-jum’ah ( الجمعة ) is derived from the word meaning;

 “To congregate” or “To gather”

In most other Islamic countries, outside the Arab world, the word Friday is derived from the Indonesian, Jumat.

In Turkish Friday is Cuma.

In most Indian languages, Shukraver, named for Shukra, Venus in Sanskrit, is the word for Friday.

In Japanese, Friday is Kinyobi, again, meaning Venus.

In most Indian languages, the word for Friday is Shukraver, named for Shukra, the Sanskrit word for Venus.

 

 

It’s extremely thought provoking, that, in so many countries, on different continents and thousands of miles away from each other, and, in so many different cultures and religions, the word for Friday, originates from the same Goddess: Venus.

 

Fridays and religion

 

In Islam, Friday begins at sundown on Thursday, and ends at sundown on Friday, and is the equal to Sunday in Christianity.

In Judaism, Sabbath, (Saturday) begins on Friday evening and ends on Saturday evening) again, equal to Sunday in Christianity.

As you can see, the three Abrahamic religions have three different days of the week as their day of worship;

Islam, Friday

Judaism, Saturday

Christianity, Sunday

Quakers traditionally referred to Friday as “The Sixth Day”, showing the pagan origins of the word. (Frigga, Friday, sixth day of the week)

In Hindu, on Fridays, there are celebrations for the Goddesses Durga and Lakshmi.

 

 

Friday is also a day of atonement; traditionally, Christians don’t eat meat on Fridays.

Most Anglicans, especially Anglo Catholics, refrain from having sex, either on all Fridays, or Fridays in Lent.

 

Friday; unlucky for some

 

 

Some cultures consider Fridays to be unlucky, especially in seafaring communities, where it’s thought unlucky to begin a journey on Fridays.

Admiral William Henry Smyth, in his nautical dictionary; ‘The Sailors Word Book’ calls Friday “Dies Infaustus” meaning, “unlucky day”, this may have been the cause of the urban legend of HMS Friday.

All sailors were afraid to set foot aboard a ship which was to begin its journey on a Friday, even more so after reading Smyth’s book.

  To overcome this superstition, the Royal Navy decided to dispel the myth.

In the 1800s, they built a ship and named it the H.M.S. Friday, selected its first crew on a Friday and even chose a man named James Friday to be Captain.

 One Friday morning the ship set sail on its maiden voyage and was never seen again.

 

 

There has never been any Royal Navy ship named HMS Friday.

 It’s not known where the story originated!

Friday 13th is considered even more unlucky, due to the combination of Friday and the unlucky number 13.

Not so though in The Hebrides, here, it is a lucky day for sowing seeds, and Good Friday is an exceptionally good day for planting potatoes, even strict Roman Catholics plant potatoes on that day!

 

 

There is an actual word for the fear of Friday 13^th,

 “Paraskevidekatriaphobia”

Try and get your tongue round that!

The superstition started in The Middle Ages, deriving from the last supper and crucifixion of Jesus.

Thirteen people, on the thirteenth day of Nisan (First month of the Hebrew calendar).

Also, most people believe that Jesus died on a Friday.

 

 

Another suggestion is that the superstition arises from the fact that on Friday 13^th 1307, Philip IV of France, arrested hundreds of Knights Templar, along with their leader, Jacques de Molay, and had them put to death.

 

 

Greeks and Italians consider Tuesday 13^th unlucky, Tuesday being the day dominated by Aries, God of War.

The Fall of Constantinople, during the 4th crusade, occurred on Tuesday 13th April 1204, and, the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans, on Tuesday 29^th May 1453.

 

 

In Greece, the name for Tuesday is Triti, (The third day), which adds credence to the notion that bad luck comes in threes!

And then there’s “Casual Friday”

 

 

Some people just don’t do casual! Be one of them Nais, be different!

So, there you are Nais, you now know, all there is to know, about your favourite day of the week, Friday.

Wasn’t this better than your usual “Friday Picture”?

I’ll say one thing here; “The Friday Picture” is much, much easier!