Samstag

German

Etymology

From Middle High German sameztac, samztac, from Old High German sambaztag (“Sabbath day”), from Gothic *𐍃𐌰𐌼𐌱𐌰𐍄𐍉 (*sambatō), an alteration (possibly dialectal) of earlier, Biblical 𐍃𐌰𐌱𐌱𐌰𐍄𐍉 (sabbatō), from Byzantine Greek σάμβατον (sámbaton, “Sabbath”) (compare French samedi, Old French sambedi, Romansch somda, Romanian sâmbătă, Hungarian szombat).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈzamstʰaːk/ (standard)
  • IPA(key): /ˈzamstʰax/ (northern and central Germany; chiefly colloquial)
  • IPA(key): /ˈsamʃtʰaːk/ (south-western Germany and Switzerland; dialect)
  • Samstag(file)

Noun

Samstag m (genitive Samstags or Samstages, plural Samstage)

  1. (now dominant except in former East Germany) Saturday

Usage notes

Samstag is the only common word for “Saturday” in western Germany, southern Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (in standard usage). See Sonnabend for information on this (declining) synonym.

Synonyms

  • (eastern and, traditionally, northern Germany): Sonnabend

Hypernyms

Derived terms

See also

Further reading

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