Weorcdaeg

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An Old English term for a day set aside for ordinary labour rather than for religious observance or a feast
2. The old word for a working day, meaning a weekday on which people were expected to perform their usual toil
3. Used in Anglo-Saxon times to mean a day of ordinary work, distinct from a holy day or festival

Etymology: Old English "weorcdæg" is a compound of "weorc", meaning "work", and "dæg", meaning "day". It was the ordinary name for what we now call a weekday: a day for labour, as opposed to the Sabbath or a holy day. The word is attested in Old English texts and is the direct ancestor of the modern "workday", which keeps the same two parts in new spelling. The compound is native English rather than borrowed, so its history runs straight through the Anglo-Saxon period without any detour through Latin or French. Its counterpart in the old week was the "Sunnandæg" and "Mōnandæg" pattern of named days, and this one stood out because it named a day by what people did rather than by a god or heavenly body.