week

English

Etymology

From Middle English weke, from Old English wice, wucu (“week”), 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 (wikô, “turn for temple service”), Latin vicis. Related also to Old English wīcan (“to yield, give way”), English weak.

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)

  1. 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.
  2. A period of seven days beginning with Sunday or Monday.
  3. A period of five days beginning with Monday.
  4. 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.
  5. Seven days after (sometimes before) a specified date.
    I'll see you Thursday week.

Synonyms

Hypernyms

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Further reading

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.

Noun

week (plural weke)

  1. week
    Daar is sewe dae in die week. ― There are seven days in the week.

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -eːk
  • IPA(key): /ʋeːk/
  • Audio(file)

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch wēke, from Old Dutch *wika, from Proto-Germanic *wikǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *weyg- (“to bend, wind, turn, yield”).

Noun

week f (plural weken, diminutive weekje n)

  1. week
Derived terms
Descendants

Etymology 2

From Middle Dutch wêec, from Old Dutch *wēk, from Proto-Germanic *waikwaz.

Adjective

week (comparative weker, superlative weekst)

  1. soft, tender, fragile
  2. weak, gentle, weakhearted
Inflection
Inflection of week
uninflected week
inflected weke
comparative weker
positive comparative superlative
predicative/adverbial weekwekerhet weekst
het weekste
indefinite m./f. sing. wekewekereweekste
n. sing. weekwekerweekste
plural wekewekereweekste
definite wekewekereweekste
partitive weekswekers—
Antonyms
Derived terms

Etymology 3

See etymology on the main entry.

Verb

week

  1. first-person singular present indicative of weken
  2. imperative of weken

Verb

week

  1. singular past indicative of wijken

Anagrams

Middle English

Noun

week

  1. Alternative form of weke (“week”)
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