Saturday

::For Ian McEwan's 2005 novel, see Saturday (novel).

Related Topics:
Ian McEwan - 2005 - Saturday (novel)

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Saturday is considered either the sixth or the seventh day of the week, between Friday and Sunday. It is the only day of the week to retain its Roman origin, named after the Roman god of time Saturn. Many of the other days of the week adopted names of Saxon gods after the Anglo Saxon invasion of Rome.

Related Topics:
Day - Week - Friday - Sunday - Roman - Saturn - Saxon

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By tradition derived from ancient Jews, Saturday is the last day of the week. That convention remains universally standard in the United States, but in modern Europe many people now consider Saturday the sixth (penultimate) day of the week, and Sunday the last. The modern European convention has been formalized by ISO 8601. On the other hand, in many Islamic countries, Saturdays are the first day of the week, with Fridays as holidays.

Related Topics:
Jews - United States - ISO 8601 - Islamic countries - Friday

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In the popular rhyme, "Saturday's Child works hard for a living".

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In ancient Jewish tradition Saturday is the sabbath. Many languages lack separate words for "Saturday" and "sabbath". Eastern Orthodox churches distinguish between the sabbath (Saturday) and the Lord's day (Sunday). Roman Catholics put so little emphasis on that distinction that many among them follow – at least in colloquial language – the Protestant practice of calling Sunday the sabbath. Quakers traditionally refer to Saturday as "Seventh Day" eschewing the "pagan" origin of the name.

Related Topics:
Jewish - Sabbath - Eastern Orthodox - Protestant - Quakers - Pagan

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In Scandinavian countries, Saturday is called Lördag or Löverdag etc., the name being derived from the old word laugr, meaning bath, thus Lördag equates to bath-day.

Related Topics:
Scandinavia - Laugr

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The modern Maori name for it, Rahoroi, means "washing-day".

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In many countries where Sundays are holidays, Saturday is part of the weekend, and is traditionally a day of relaxation. Many parties are held on Saturdays, because it precedes Sunday, another day of rest. It is common for clubs, bars and restaurants to open later on Saturday night than on other nights.

Related Topics:
Sunday - Weekend

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Saturday is the usual day for elections in Australia and the only day in New Zealand on which elections can be held.

Related Topics:
Australia - New Zealand

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