Latin Days of the Week

Although the official calendars of the ancient Roman Republic don't show the days of the week, by the early imperial period, Romans used 7 gods' names for the days of the week, in practice. The Latin term for the days of the week is diēs hebdomadis. This is related to the Greek word for 7, hepta. The 7 gods named are Saturn, Sol, Luna (Moon), Mars, Mercury, Jove (Jupiter), and Venus. Notice that the gods' names are in the Genitive Singular case.

• dies Solis
• dies Lunae
• dies Martis
• dies Mercurii
• dies Iovis
• dies Veneris
• dies Saturni

Below is a table showing the Latin name for the day of the week followed by the name in French, Spanish, and Italian, and following the convention in Italy, etc., of naming Monday first. You'll notice that the name for Sunday is not connected with the Sun god, but is related to the word for Lord, and Saturn's day refers to a sabbath in the Romance language names for the days of the week, although English uses the Roman god's name.