Monday

Monday (pronounced: ˈmʌndeɪ, or ˈmʌndi) is the day of the week between Sunday and Tuesday.
==Etymology==
The English noun Monday derived sometime before 1200 from monedæi, which itself developed from Old English (around 1000) mōnandæg and mōndæg (literally meaning "moon's day"), which is cognate to other Germanic languages, including Old Frisian mōnadeig, Middle Low German and Middle Dutch mānendach (modern Dutch Maandag), Old High German mānetag (modern German Montag), and Old Norse mánadagr (Swedish and Norwegian nynorsk måndag. Danish and Norwegian bokmål mandag). The term is a Germanic interpretation of Latin lunae dies ("day of the moon").Barnhart (1995:485).
The Russian word, eschewing pagan names, is понедельник (poniediélnik), meaning "after holiday". In Turkish it is called "pazartesi", which means the day after Sunday. In most of the Indian languages, the word for Monday is Somvar, with Soma being the Sanskrit name for the moon. The Japanese word for Monday is getsuyōbi (月曜日) which means day of the moon.
==Position in the week==
The international ISO 8601 standard places Monday as the first day of the week, and this is widely used on calendars in Europe and in international business, however according to traditional Christian count, Sunday is the first day of the week. This is the standard format in the United States, Canada and Japan.
In many other cultures, Monday is held to be the first day of the week. For example, Monday is xingqi yi (星期一) in Chinese, meaning day one of the week. The international standard ISO 8601 defines Monday as the first day of the week. Its name in Georgian and Syriac means "first day". Quakers traditionally refer to Monday as "Second Day" eschewing the pagan origin of the English name "Monday". For similar reasons the official liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church refers to Monday as the second celebration day - Feria II. (The Portuguese and the Greek (Eastern Orthodox Church) name for Monday reflects this, as do all the days' names except Saturday and Sunday: the Portuguese word for Monday is segunda-feira and the Greek word is deutéra (Δευτέρα) ).
Modern culture usually looks at Monday as the beginning of the workweek, as it is typically Monday when adults go back to work and children back to school after the weekend. Thus, Mondays are often seen as a misfortune. In Middle Eastern countries, however, the beginning of the workweek is usually Saturday (Thursday and Friday are observed as the weekend). In Israel, Sunday is the first day of the workweek. Friday is half a work day and Friday night and Saturday are the Sabbath
==Religious observances==
In Judaism and Islam Mondays are considered auspicious days for fasting. The Didache warned early Christians not to fast on Mondays to avoid Judaizing, and suggests Wednesdays instead.
In Judaism the Torah is read in public on Monday mornings, one of three days the Torah is read each week (the other two days being Thursday and Saturday). Special penitential prayers are recited on Monday, unless there is a special occasion for happiness which cancels them.
In the Eastern Orthodox Church Mondays are days on which the angels are commemorated. The Octoechos contains hymns on this theme, arranged in an eight-week cycle, that are chanted on Mondays throughout the year. At the end of Divine Services on Monday, the dismissal begins with the words: "May Christ our True God, through the intercessions of his most-pure Mother, of the honorable, Bodiless Powers (i.e., the angels) of Heaven…". In many Eastern monasteries Mondays are observed as fast days; because Mondays are dedicated to the angels, and monks strive to live an angelic life. In these monasteries the monks abstain from meat, fowl, dairy products, fish, wine and oil (if a feast day occurs on a Monday, fish, wine and oil may be allowed, depending upon the particular feast).
==Cultural references==
In the "Monday's Child" folk rhyme, "Monday's child is fair of face".
In Thailand, the color associated with Monday is yellow.
The Boomtown Rats have a famous song called "I Don't Like Mondays".
Through the movie Office Space the quote "Someone is having a case of the Mondays!" entered the pop culture lexicon.
In the Garfield comic strips and television shows, the titular cat hates Mondays, and is frequently harmed during them.
==Monday in different languages==
Names for Monday in different languages and cultures (selection)
Language 	Pronunciation 	Meaning 	Notes
Latin 	dies lunae 	Day of the moon 	(literal translation)
Swedish 	Måndag 	Moon day 	(literal translation)
Albanian 	E Hene 	Day of the moon 	(literal translation)
Italian 	lunedì 	Day of the moon 	(literal translation)
Galician 	luns 	Day of the moon 	(literal translation)
Gaeilge 	Dé Luain 	Day of the moon 	(literal translation)
Catalan 	dilluns 	Day of the moon 	(literal translation)
Spanish 	lunes 	Day of the moon 	(literal translation)
French 	lundi 	Day of the moon 	(literal translation)
Welsh 	dydd Llun 	Day of the moon 	(literal tranlsation)
Norwegian 	mandag 	Moon Day 	(literal translation)
Romanian 	luni 	Day of the moon 	(literal translation)
Akan 	Edwada 	day of the moon 	beginning of the week
German 	Montag 	Moon day 	(literal translation)
Dutch 	Maandag 	Moon day 	(literal translation)
English 	Monday 	Moon day 	(literal translation)
Hungarian 	hétfő 	head of seven (=week) 	beginning of the week
Russian 	ПонедельникPonedel'nik 	after a holiday 	(literal translation from Old Russian)
Polish 	Poniedziałek 	after Sunday 	(literal translation)
Kashubian 	Pòniedzôłk 	after Sunday 	(literal translation)
Tibetan 	གཟའ་ཟླ་བ། 	"planet moon" 	(literal translation)
Khmer 	ថ្ងៃច័ន្ទtngae chan 	moon day 	(literal translation)
Croatian 	Ponedjeljak 	after Sunday 	(literal translation)
Bulgarian 	ПонеделникPonedelnik 	after Sunday 	(literal translation)
Ukrainian 	ПонеділокPonedilok 	after Sunday 	(literal translation)
Czech 	pondělí 	after Sunday 	(literal translation)
Serbian 	Понедељак / Ponedelyak 	after Sunday 	(literal translation)
Slovak 	Pondelok 	after Sunday 	(literal translation)
Slovenian 	Ponedeljek 	after Sunday 	(literal translation)
Kiswahili 	Jumatatu 	the third day 	(almost literal translation)
Bosnian 	Ponedjeljak 	after Sunday 	(literal translation)
Macedonian	ПонеделникPonedelnik 	after Sunday 	(literal translation)
Turkish 	Pazartesi 	after Sunday 	(literal translation)
Kurdish 	dúschem 	first day 	(literal translation)
Greek 	Δευτέραdeutéra 	the second (day) 	(literal translation)
Arabic 	الاثنينal-ithnayn 	the second(day) 	(literal translation)
Armenian 	ԵրկուշաբթիYergoushapti 	the second (day) 	(literal translation)
Persian 	دوشنبهdo-schambe 	the second day 	(literal translation)
Hebrew 	יום שניyom scheni 	the second day 	(literal translation)
Portuguese	segunda-feira 	second (liturgical) celebration	(literal translation)
Chinese 	禮拜一星期一libaiyixingqiyi 	first day of the week 	(literal translation)
Estonian 	esmaspäev 	first day of the week 	(literal translation)
Japanese 	月曜日getsuyôbi 	moon day 	Japanese days are called by the names of celestial bodies, starting with sun and moon then five planets
Korean 	월요일 月曜日woryoil 	moon day 	Korean days are called by the names of five basic elements, the moon, and the Sun.
Hindi 	सोमवारsom-vaar 	day of Soma 	The sacrament/deity Soma was associated with the moon, as the moon's waxing symbolized the cup of Soma filling.
Malayalam 	തി‍‍‍ങ്കളാഴ്ചthingka-lazhtcha	day of the moon 	(literal translation)
Lithuanian	Pirmadienis 	First Day 	(literal translation)
Albanian 	E hënë 	First Day 	(literal translation)
Urdu 	پیرPeer 	 	
Basque 	astelehena 	week-first 	(literal translation)
==Astrology==
Monday aligns with the celestial body, the Moon, and the astrological sign of Cancer.
==Named days==
* Easter Monday also Bright Monday or Wet Monday
* Shrove Monday
* Whit Monday
==Notes==
==References==
*Barnhart, Robert K. (1995). The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology. Harper Collins. ISBN 0062700847
Category:Days of the week
Category:Eastern Christian liturgy
Category:Fasting