Archive

Tag: Week

A week is a time unit equal to seven days. The English word week continues an Old English wice, ultimately from a Common Germanic *wikōn-, from a root *wik- “turn, move, change”. The Germanic word probably had a wider meaning prior to the adoption of the Roman calendar, perhaps “succession series”, as suggested by Gothic wikō translating taxis “order” in Luke 1:8. The term “week” is sometimes expanded to refer to other time units comprising a few days. Such “weeks” of between four and ten days have been used historically in various places. Intervals longer than 10 days are not usually termed “weeks” as they are closer in length to the fortnight or the month than to the seven-day week. Evidence of continuous use of a seven-day week appears with the Jews during the Babylonian Captivity of the 6th century BC. Both Judaism (based on the Creation narrative in the Bible) and ancient Babylonian religions used a seven-day week. Other cultures adopted the seven-day week at different times….