Days of the Week in Latin: Names, Gods and Pronunciation
The seven days of the week in Latin, the planet and god each one is named for, how to pronounce them in classical and Church Latin, how to say "on Tuesday", and where the modern French, Spanish, Italian and English day names come from.
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What's in this guide
Days of the week in Latin: the table
Each Latin day name is literally "day of" a heavenly body: the word dies (day) followed by the name of a planet or god in the genitive case. The list runs Monday to Sunday below, but note that the Romans, and the later Church, counted the week from Sunday.
| English | Latin | Literal meaning | Classical pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | dies Lunae | day of the Moon | DEE-ays LOO-nigh |
| Tuesday | dies Martis | day of Mars | DEE-ays MAR-tis |
| Wednesday | dies Mercurii | day of Mercury | DEE-ays mer-KOO-ri-ee |
| Thursday | dies Iovis | day of Jupiter | DEE-ays YO-wis |
| Friday | dies Veneris | day of Venus | DEE-ays WEH-neh-ris |
| Saturday | dies Saturni | day of Saturn | DEE-ays sa-TOOR-nee |
| Sunday | dies Solis | day of the Sun | DEE-ays SOH-lis |
You will also see the two words written in the other order (Lunae dies) or joined together (Lunaedies), and with a capital D. Romans did not have our capitalisation conventions, so all of these are acceptable. The most common modern convention is lowercase dies and a capital for the god's name.
The god and planet behind each day
The seven "planets" of the ancient sky were the seven bodies that visibly move against the fixed stars: the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. Each was identified with a god, and each got a day.
- Luna (Monday): the Moon, and the goddess of the Moon. The genitive is Lunae.
- Mars (Tuesday): god of war. The genitive is Martis, which is why the day is not "dies Mars".
- Mercurius (Wednesday): messenger of the gods, god of trade and travellers. Genitive Mercurii.
- Iuppiter (Thursday): king of the gods. His name changes stem in the other cases, so the genitive is Iovis, not "Iuppiteris". This is the one most learners get wrong.
- Venus (Friday): goddess of love. Genitive Veneris.
- Saturnus (Saturday): god of agriculture and time, father of Jupiter. Genitive Saturni. The festival Saturnalia in December is named for him.
- Sol (Sunday): the Sun. Genitive Solis.
How to pronounce them
There are two living standards for pronouncing Latin, and the day names sound noticeably different in each.
Classical (restored) pronunciation is what scholars reconstruct for Cicero's time. Every letter is sounded; v is "w"; ae is "eye"; c and g are always hard. So Iovis is "YO-wis", Veneris is "WEH-neh-ris" and Lunae is "LOO-nigh". The word dies has two syllables, "DEE-ays", never one.
Ecclesiastical (Church) pronunciation follows Italian habits and is what you hear in Catholic liturgy and most choral music. v is "v"; ae is "eh"; c before e or i is "ch". So Iovis (often spelled Jovis) is "YO-vis", Veneris is "VEH-neh-ris", Lunae is "LOO-neh" and Mercurii is "mer-KOO-ree-ee".
Neither is wrong. Pick the one that matches your purpose (classical for literature and school, ecclesiastical for singing and the Church) and stay consistent.
Church Latin: feria and dies Dominica
Early Christians did not want to name the days after pagan gods, so the Church built a second system that is still used in liturgical Latin today. Sunday became dies Dominica ("the Lord's day", often just Dominica), Saturday kept the Jewish name Sabbatum, and the days in between were simply numbered with the word feria.
| English | Classical Latin | Church Latin |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday | dies Solis | dies Dominica |
| Monday | dies Lunae | feria secunda (second day) |
| Tuesday | dies Martis | feria tertia (third day) |
| Wednesday | dies Mercurii | feria quarta (fourth day) |
| Thursday | dies Iovis | feria quinta (fifth day) |
| Friday | dies Veneris | feria sexta (sixth day) |
| Saturday | dies Saturni | Sabbatum |
Notice that Sunday is day one, so Monday is "feria secunda", the second day. Portuguese still counts its weekdays exactly this way (segunda-feira for Monday, terça-feira for Tuesday, and so on), which is the clearest surviving trace of the Church system in a modern language.
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"On Monday": the grammar you need
Dies is a fifth-declension noun. To say "on" a day, Latin uses the ablative case with no preposition, and the ablative singular of dies is die. The god's name stays in the genitive because it is still "of" the day.
| Meaning | Latin | Case |
|---|---|---|
| Monday (as a subject) | dies Lunae | nominative |
| on Monday | die Lunae | ablative of time when |
| on Mondays | diebus Lunae | ablative plural |
| the day of the week | dies hebdomadis | genitive |
Useful surrounding words: hebdomas (week, from Greek; late Latin also uses septimana, which became semana, settimana and semaine), hodie (today), cras (tomorrow), heri (yesterday), nox (night), mane (in the morning), vesperi (in the evening).
Example sentences
- Qui dies est hodie? What day is it today?
- Hodie est dies Lunae. Today is Monday.
- Cras erit dies Martis. Tomorrow will be Tuesday.
- Heri fuit dies Solis. Yesterday was Sunday.
- Die Mercurii Romam ibimus. On Wednesday we will go to Rome.
- Die Veneris amici veniunt. On Friday the friends are coming.
- Diebus Saturni et Solis non laboramus. On Saturdays and Sundays we do not work.
- Dies Iovis mihi maxime placet. Thursday is my favourite day. (Literally "pleases me most".)
Why the week has this order
The order Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn is not the order of the planets' distance or brightness. It comes from astrology. Ancient astronomers ranked the seven planets by their apparent speed, from slowest to fastest: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon. Each hour of the day was assigned to a planet in that sequence, cycling round and round. Since 24 is not divisible by 7, the planet ruling the first hour of each new day advances by three places, and that planet names the day. Start at Saturn and the first hours fall on Saturn, Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus: the week.
The seven-day planetary week reached Rome from the Hellenistic East around the first century BC, alongside the older Roman eight-day market cycle (the nundinae). It spread through the empire over the next two centuries, and in AD 321 the emperor Constantine made dies Solis an official day of rest, fixing the seven-day week in Roman law.
What the modern languages kept
The Romance languages inherited the planetary names almost intact for Monday to Friday, then took Saturday and Sunday from the Church system. The Germanic languages, including English, translated the Roman gods into their own: Mars became Tiw, Mercury became Woden, Jupiter became Thor and Venus became Frigg.
| Latin | Spanish | French | Italian | English (source) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| dies Lunae | lunes | lundi | lunedì | Monday (Moon's day) |
| dies Martis | martes | mardi | martedì | Tuesday (Tiw's day) |
| dies Mercurii | miércoles | mercredi | mercoledì | Wednesday (Woden's day) |
| dies Iovis | jueves | jeudi | giovedì | Thursday (Thor's day) |
| dies Veneris | viernes | vendredi | venerdì | Friday (Frigg's day) |
| Sabbatum | sábado | samedi | sabato | Saturday (Saturn's day) |
| dies Dominica | domingo | dimanche | domenica | Sunday (Sun's day) |
English is the odd one out: it kept the planetary names for Saturday and Sunday, which the Romance languages replaced. That is why "Saturday" still has Saturn in it while sábado does not.
Mistakes learners make
- Using the god's nominative. "Dies Mars", "dies Venus" and "dies Iuppiter" are wrong. The name must be in the genitive: Martis, Veneris, Iovis.
- Pronouncing dies as one syllable. It is "DEE-ays" (or "DEE-es"), never like the English word "dies".
- Iovis vs Jovis. The letter J did not exist in classical Latin; I did the job of both. Iovis is the classical spelling, Jovis the later one used in Church Latin and older textbooks. Both are correct, but do not mix spellings in one piece of writing.
- Assuming the Church used the pagan names. In liturgical texts Thursday is feria quinta, not dies Iovis. If you are reading a missal or a medieval charter, expect the feria system.
- Forgetting the ablative. "On Monday" is die Lunae, not "in dies Lunae". Latin marks time when with the ablative alone.
- Getting the day count wrong in feria. Monday is feria secunda, because Sunday is day one. There is no "feria prima" in normal use.
How to remember them
If you know any Spanish, French or Italian, you already know five of the seven: lunes/lundi is Lunae, martes/mardi is Martis, and so on down to viernes/vendredi for Veneris. For the last two, remember that English is the language that kept Saturn and the Sun. For the genitive endings, memorise the three irregular ones as a set: Mars, Martis; Venus, Veneris; Iuppiter, Iovis. The rest (Lunae, Mercurii, Saturni, Solis) follow the ordinary declension patterns you will meet everywhere else in Latin.
Also useful
- Basic Latin words: the core vocabulary to read simple sentences.
- Latin numbers 1 to 10: unus, duo, tres and the ordinals behind feria secunda.
- Common Latin phrases: the ones still used in English.
- Latin greetings: salve, ave and how to reply.
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Frequently asked questions
What are the 7 days of the week in Latin?
Monday dies Lunae, Tuesday dies Martis, Wednesday dies Mercurii, Thursday dies Iovis, Friday dies Veneris, Saturday dies Saturni, Sunday dies Solis. Each means "day of" the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn and the Sun. Church Latin uses dies Dominica for Sunday, Sabbatum for Saturday, and feria secunda to feria sexta for Monday to Friday.
How do you say Monday in Latin?
Monday is dies Lunae, "day of the Moon", pronounced "DEE-ays LOO-nigh" in classical Latin and "DEE-es LOO-neh" in Church Latin. In liturgical Latin it is feria secunda, "the second day", because Sunday counts as the first.
How do you say "on Monday" in Latin?
Die Lunae. Latin expresses "on" a day with the ablative case and no preposition, and the ablative of dies is die. "On Mondays" (every Monday) is diebus Lunae, with the ablative plural.
Is it Iovis or Jovis for Thursday?
Both are correct. Classical Latin had no letter J, so the word was written Iovis and pronounced "YO-wis". Jovis is the later spelling used in Church Latin and many older textbooks. Whichever you use, remember that Jupiter's genitive is Iovis, not "Iuppiteris".
Why is Sunday dies Dominica in Church Latin?
Early Christians replaced the pagan name dies Solis (day of the Sun) with dies Dominica, "the Lord's day", to mark it as the day of Christ's resurrection. That name survives in Spanish domingo, Italian domenica and French dimanche.
Did the Romans always have a seven-day week?
No. The early Romans used an eight-day market cycle called the nundinae. The seven-day planetary week arrived from the Hellenistic East around the first century BC, spread over the following two centuries, and was written into law when Constantine made dies Solis a rest day in AD 321.