Editing Thursday

{{short description|Day of the week}}
{{other uses|Thursday (disambiguation)}}
{{more citations needed|date=November 2014}}

'''Thursday''' is the [[day of the week]] between [[Wednesday]] and [[Friday]]. According to the [[ISO 8601]] international standard, it is the fourth day of the week.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ISO 8601-1:2019(en) Date and time — Representations for information interchange — Part 1: Basic rules |url=https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/en/#iso:std:iso:8601:-1:ed-1:v1:en |website=iso.org}}</ref> In countries which adopt the "Sunday-first" convention, it is the fifth day of the week.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |entry=Jackson, Millie|date=22 September 2015|publisher=Oxford University Press|encyclopedia=Oxford Music Online|doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.a2284707}}</ref>

==Name==
{{further|topic=naming conventions|Names of the days of the week}}

===Thunor's day===
The name is derived from [[Old English]] ''þunresdæg'' and [[Middle English]] ''Thuresday''. It was named after the Old English god ''Thunor''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Thursday |title=Online Etymology Dictionary |publisher=Etymonline.com |access-date=6 August 2012}}</ref> ''Thunor'' and ''Thor'' are derived from the name of the Germanic god of thunder, *''[[Thunraz]]'', equivalent to [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] in the ''[[interpretatio romana]]''.

In most Romance languages, the day is named after the Roman god [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]], who was the god of sky and thunder.  In Latin, the day was known as ''Iovis Dies'', "Jupiter's Day". In Latin, the genitive or possessive case of Jupiter was ''Iovis''/''Jovis'' and thus in most Romance languages it became the word for Thursday: [[Italian language|Italian]] ''giovedì'', [[Spanish language|Spanish]] ''jueves'', [[French language|French]] ''jeudi'', [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]] jòvia, [[Catalan language|Catalan]] ''dijous'', [[Galician language|Galician]] ''xoves'' and [[Romanian language|Romanian]] ''joi''. This is also reflected in the [[p-Celtic]] [[Welsh language|Welsh]] ''dydd Iau''.

The [[astrological symbols|astrological]] and [[astronomical symbols|astronomical]] [[Jupiter (astrology)|sign of the planet Jupiter]] (♃ [[File:Jupiter symbol (fixed width).svg|16px|Jupiter]]) is sometimes used to represent Thursday.

Most Germanic languages name the day after the Germanic thunder god: ''Torsdag'' in [[Danish language|Danish]], [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]], and [[Swedish language|Swedish]], ''Hósdagur''/''Tórsdagur'' in [[Faroese language|Faroese]], ''Donnerstag'' in [[German language|German]]  or ''Donderdag'' in [[Dutch language|Dutch]]. Finnish and Northern Sami, both non-Germanic ([[Uralic languages|Uralic]]) languages, uses the borrowing "Torstai" and "Duorastat". In the extinct [[Polabian language|Polabian]] Slavic language, it was ''perundan'', [[Perun]] being the Slavic equivalent of Thor.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=db7iuvTX1bkC&q=perundan+polabian&pg=PA6 |title=Selected writings: Comparative Slavic studies – Roman Jakobson – Google Books |isbn=978-3-11-010617-6 |access-date=6 August 2012|last1=Jakobson |first1=Roman |year=1962 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter }}</ref>

===Vishnu's/Buddha's/Dattatrey's Day===
In most of the [[languages of India]], the word for Thursday is ''Guruvāra'' – ''vāra'' meaning day and ''[[Guru]]'' being the [[style (manner of address)|style]] for [[Bṛhaspati]], guru to the gods and regent of the planet [[Jupiter]]. This day marks the worship of [[Vishnu]] and his [[avatar]]s such as [[Rama]], [[Satyanarayana Puja#Satyanarayana|Satyanarayana]]{{Broken anchor|date=2025-04-29|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=Satyanarayana Puja#Satyanarayana|reason= The anchor (Satyanarayana) [[Special:Diff/1248007357|has been deleted]].|diff_id=1248007357}}, [[Parashurama]], [[Narasimha]], and [[Buddha in Hinduism|Buddha]] as well as the deity [[Dattatreya]] in [[Hinduism]]. In [[Sanskrit]] language, the day is called '''Bṛhaspativāsaram''' (day of [[Bṛhaspati]]). In Nepali language, the day is called ''Bihivāra'' with ''Bihi'' derived from the corruption of the shorter form 'Brhi' of the word Bṛhaspati. In [[Thai language|Thai]], the word is ''Wan Pharuehatsabodi'', also in [[Old Javanese]] as ''Respati'' or in [[Balinese language|Balinese]] as ''Wraspati'' – referring to the Hindu deity Bṛhaspati, also associated with Jupiter.
[[En (Illyrian god)|En]] was an old [[Illyrians|Illyrian]] deity and in his honor in the [[Albanian language]] Thursday is called "Enjte".<ref>Lurker, Manfred. ''The Routledge Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, Devils and Demons'', Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. p.57</ref> 
In the [[Nahuatl language]], Thursday is {{lang|nci|Tezcatlipotōnal}} ({{IPA|nah|teskat͡ɬipoˈtoːnaɬ}}) meaning "day of [[Tezcatlipoca]]".

In Japanese, the day is {{lang|och|木曜日}} (木 represents Jupiter, 木星), following [[Names of the days of the week#East Asian tradition|East Asian tradition]].

===Fourth day===
{{Unreferenced section|date=January 2008}}
In [[Slavic languages]] and in Chinese, this day's name is "fourth" ([[Slovak language|Slovak]] ''štvrtok'', [[Czech language|Czech]] ''čtvrtek'', [[Slovene language|Slovene]] ''četrtek'', [[Polish language|Polish]] ''czwartek'',<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-polish/thursday |title=Thursday in Polish |website=Cambridge Dictionary |access-date=28 October 2024}}</ref> [[Russian language|Russian]] четверг ''chetverg'', [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] четвъртък, [[Serbo-Croatian]] четвртак / ''četvrtak'', [[Macedonian language|Macedonian]] четврток, [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]] четвер ''chetver''). [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]] uses a Slavic loanword "csütörtök". In [[Chinese language|Chinese]], it is {{lang|zh|星期四}} ''xīngqīsì'' ("fourth solar day"). In [[Estonian language|Estonian]] it's ''neljapäev'', meaning "fourth day" or "fourth day in a week". The [[Baltic languages]] also use the term "fourth day" ([[Latvian language|Latvian]] ''ceturtdiena'', [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]] ''ketvirtadienis'').

===Fifth day===
{{Unreferenced section|date=January 2008}}
[[Greek language|Greek]] uses a number for this day:  Πέμπτη ''Pémpti'' "fifth," as does {{langx|pt|quinta-feira}} "fifth day," [[Hebrew Language|Hebrew]]: {{Script/Hebrew|יום חמישי}} (''Yom Khamishi'' – day fifth) often written {{Script/Hebrew|'יום ה}} ("Yom Hey" – 5th letter Hey day), and [[Arabic Language|Arabic]]: {{lang|ar|يوم الخميس}} ("Yaum al-Khamīs" – fifth day). Rooted from Arabic, the [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]] word for Thursday is "Kamis", similarly "Khamis" in [[Malaysian language|Malaysian]] and "Kemis" in [[Javanese language|Javanese]].

In [[Catholic]] [[liturgy]], Thursday is referred to in [[Latin]] as ''feria quinta''. [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], unlike other [[Romance languages]], uses the word ''quinta-feira,'' meaning "fifth day of liturgical celebration", that comes from the Latin ''feria quinta'' used in religious texts where it was not allowed to consecrate days to pagan gods.

[[Icelandic language|Icelandic]] also uses the term ''fifth day'' (''Fimmtudagur'').

In the [[Persian language]], Thursday is referred to as ''panj-shanbeh'', meaning 5th day of the week.

[[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]] refers to Thursday as {{lang|vi|Thứ năm}} (literally means "day five").

[[Religious Society of Friends|Quakers]] traditionally referred to Thursday as "Fifth Day" eschewing the [[paganism|pagan]] origin of the English name "Thursday".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://iymc.org/calendarnames.html |title=Guide to Quaker Calendar Names |author=<!--Not stated--> |publisher=Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative) Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) |access-date=30 March 2017 |quote=In the 20th Century, many Friends began accepting use of the common date names, feeling that any pagan meaning has been forgotten. The numerical names continue to be used, however, in many documents and more formal situations."}}</ref>

==Cultural and religious practices==

===Christian holidays===
In the [[Christianity|Christian]] tradition, [[Maundy Thursday]] or Holy Thursday is the Thursday before [[Easter]] — the day on which the [[Last Supper]] occurred. Also known as ''Sheer Thursday'' in the United Kingdom, it is traditionally a day of cleaning and giving out Maundy money there. Holy Thursday is part of [[Holy Week]].

In the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], Thursdays are dedicated to the [[Apostles in the New Testament|Apostles]] and [[Saint Nicholas]]. The [[Octoechos (liturgy)|Octoechos]] contains [[hymn]]s on these themes, arranged in an eight-week cycle, that are chanted on Thursdays throughout the year.  At the end of [[Divine Services]] on Thursday, the [[dismissal (liturgy)|dismissal]] begins with the words: "May Christ our True God, through the [[intercession]]s of his most-pure [[Theotokos|Mother]], of the holy, glorious and all-laudable Apostles, of our [[Holy Fathers|Father]] among the [[saint]]s Nicholas, [[Archbishop]] of [[Myra]] in [[Lycia]], the [[Wonder-worker]]…"

[[Ascension of Jesus Christ|Ascension Thursday]] is 40 days after Easter, when Christ ascended into [[Heaven]].

===Hinduism===
In [[Hinduism]], Thursday is associated with the [[Navagraha]] [[Brihaspati]], whom devotees of this graha will fast pray and fast on Thursdays. The day is dedicated to the deity [[Vishnu]] or his [[avatar]]s, such as [[Rama]], [[Parshurama]], [[Narasimha]], [[Satyanarayana Puja|Satyanarayan]], and [[Buddha in Hinduism|Buddha]]. However, Wednesday is dedicated to his avatars of [[Krishna]] and [[Vithoba]]. Devotees usually fast on this day in honor of Vishnu and his avatars, especially [[Vaishnavism|Vaishnava]] Hindus.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://pujayagna.com/blogs/hindu-fasting-days/fasting-in-hinduism | title=Hindu Fasting }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.learnreligions.com/hindu-deities-rituals-for-week-1770073 | title=Weekly Rituals in the Practice of Hinduism }}</ref>

===Islam===
In [[Islam]], Thursdays are one of the days in a week in which Muslims are encouraged to do [[Fasting in Islam#Days of voluntary fasting|voluntary fasting]], the other being Mondays.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fasting on Mondays and Thursdays or on Three Days of each Month? - Islam Question & Answer |url=https://islamqa.info/en/answers/69781/fasting-on-mondays-and-thursdays-or-on-three-days-of-each-month |access-date=2023-02-27 |website=islamqa.info |language=en}}</ref>

===Judaism===

In [[Judaism]], Thursdays are considered auspicious days for fasting. The [[Didache]] warned early [[Christians]] not to fast on Thursdays to avoid [[Judaizers|Judaizing]], and suggested Fridays instead.

In Judaism the [[Torah]] is read in public on Thursday mornings, and special penitential prayers are said on Thursday, unless there is a special occasion for happiness which cancels them.

===Druze faith===
[[File:DrusischerTempel.jpg|thumb|[[Khalwat al-Bayada|Druze Prayer house]] in Daliyat al-Karmel]]
Formal [[Druze]] worship is confined to weekly meeting on Thursday evenings, during which all members of community gather together to discuss local issues before those not initiated into the secrets of the faith (the juhhāl, or the ignorant) are dismissed, and those who are "uqqāl" or "enlightened" (those few initiated in the Druze holy books) remain to read and study their [[Epistles of Wisdom|holy scriptures]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Samy S. Swayd|title=The A to Z of the Druzes|date=2009|publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]]|isbn=978-0-8108-6836-6|page=xxxix}}</ref>

===Practices in countries===
{{more citations needed| section|date=January 2008}}
In [[Finland]] and [[Sweden]], [[pea soup]] is traditionally served on Thursdays.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://finland.fi/life-society/pea-soup-tradition-is-weekly-tbt-passion-in-finland/|title=Pea soup tradition is weekly #TBT passion in Finland|access-date=9 February 2021|work=This Is Finland|date=4 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.swedishfood.com/swedish-food-recipes-starters/134-pea-soup|title=Yellow pea soup|access-date=9 February 2021|work=SwedishFood.com}}</ref>

In [[Indonesia]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://fsb.ung.ac.id/home/berita/hmj-mengajak-mahasiswa-untuk-memakai-batik-setiap-hari-kamis |title=HMJ Mengajak Mahasiswa Untuk Memakai Batik Setiap Hari Kamis |language=id |trans-title=[[Student society|Department Student Organization]] Invites Students to Wear Batik Every Thursday |last=Kadhapy |first=Moh. |date=20 September 2023 |website=Fakultas Sastra dan Budaya [[State University of Gorontalo|Universitas Negeri Gorontalo]] |publisher=[[Student society|Department Student Organization]] of Indonesian Language and Art Department of Art and Culture Faculty of [[State University of Gorontalo]] (HMJ BSI FSB UNG) |access-date=23 March 2024}}</ref> and [[Malaysia]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.liputan6.com/lifestyle/read/4696719/parlemen-malaysia-jadikan-setiap-kamis-sebagai-hari-batik |title=Parlemen Malaysia Jadikan Setiap Kamis Sebagai Hari Batik |language=id |trans-title=[[Malaysian Parliament]] Makes Every Thursday Batik Day |last=Mutiah |first=Dinny |date=29 October 2021 |website=Liputan 6 Lifestyle |publisher=[[Liputan 6]] |access-date=23 March 2024}}</ref> in a week, [[batik]] clothing is usually worn on Thursday, especially at education and civil servant institutions.

For [[Thai Buddhist]], Thursday is considered the "Teacher's Day", and it is believed that one should begin one's education on this auspicious day. Thai students still pay homages to their teachers in specific ceremony always held on a selected Thursday. And graduation day in Thai universities, which can vary depending on each university, almost always will be held on a Thursday.

In the [[Thai solar calendar]], the colour associated with Thursday is orange.<ref>Segaller, Denis (2005). ''Thai Ways''. Bangkok: Silkworm Books. {{ISBN|9781628400083}}.</ref>

In the United States, [[Thanksgiving (United States)|Thanksgiving Day]] is an annual festival celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November.

===Conventional weekly events===
In Australia, most cinema movies premieres are held on Thursdays. Also, most Australians are paid on a Thursday, either weekly or fortnightly. Shopping malls see this as an opportunity to open longer than usual, generally until 9 pm, as most pay cheques are cleared by Thursday morning.

In Norway, Thursday has also traditionally been the day when most shops and malls are open later than on the other weekdays, although the majority of shopping malls now are open until 8 pm or 9 pm every weekday.

In the USSR of the 1970s and 1980s Thursday was the "Fish Day" ({{langx|ru|[[:ru:Рыбный день|Рыбный день]]}}, ''Rybny den''), when the nation's [[foodservice]] establishments were supposed to serve fish (rather than meat) dishes.<ref>{{citation
|first1=Irina |last1=Petrosian|first2= David |last2=Underwood|year=2006
|isbn=1-4116-9865-7|title=Armenian Food: Fact, Fiction & Folklore|series=Armenian Research Center collection
|edition=2|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=0oXYX9Qzx9oC&pg=PA115
|page=115}}</ref>

For college and university students, Thursday is sometimes referred to as the new Friday. There are often fewer or sometimes no classes on Fridays and more opportunities to hold parties on Thursday night and sleep in on Friday. As a consequence, some call Thursday "thirstday" or "thirsty Thursday".<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/06/education/edlife/hafner.html?_r=1 | work=The New York Times | title=How Thursday Became the New Friday | first=Katie | last=Hafner | date=6 November 2005 | access-date=28 March 2010}}</ref>

===Elections in the United Kingdom===
In the [[United Kingdom]], all [[general election]]s since 1935 have been held on a Thursday, and this has become a tradition, although not a requirement of the law — which merely states that an election may be held on any day "except Saturdays, Sundays, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Good Friday, bank holidays in any part of the United Kingdom and any day appointed for public thanksgiving and mourning".<ref>{{cite act|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1983/2/schedule/1/part/I/1996-11-01|title=Representation of the People Act 1983|date=1 November 1996|access-date=3 November 2016|articletype=Schedule|article=1}}</ref>

Additionally, local elections are usually held on the first Thursday in May.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Understand how your council works |url=https://www.gov.uk/understand-how-your-council-works/local-councillors-and-elections |access-date=2025-04-14 |website=GOV.UK |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=General elections - UK Parliament |url=https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/elections-and-voting/general/}}</ref>

The [[Electoral Administration Act 2006]] removed [[Maundy Thursday]] as an excluded day on the electoral timetable, therefore an election can now be held on Maundy Thursday; prior to this elections were sometimes scheduled on the Tuesday before as an alternative.

==Astrology==
Thursday is aligned by the planet [[Jupiter (planet)|Jupiter]] and the astrological signs of [[Pisces (astrology)|Pisces]] and [[Sagittarius (astrology)|Sagittarius]].{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

==Popular culture==
*In the nursery rhyme, "[[Monday's Child]]", "Thursday's Child has far to go".
*In some [[High school (North America)|high school]]s in the [[United States]] during the 1950s and the 1960s, rumours said that if someone wore [[green]] on Thursdays, it meant that he or she was [[gay]] or [[lesbian]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Grahn, Judy|title=Another Mother Tongue: Gay Words, Gay Worlds|edition=updated and expanded|location=Boston|publisher=Beacon Press|date=1990|pages=[https://archive.org/details/anothermotherto000grah/page/76 76–81]|isbn=0-8070-7911-1|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/anothermotherto000grah/page/76}}</ref>
*Thursday is the day of the Second Round draw in the [[EFL Cup|English League Cup]].
*[[United Kingdom elections, 2004#Publishing|Super Thursday]] is an annual promotional event in the publishing industry as well as an important day in UK elections (see above).

===Literature===
*Gabriel Syme, the main character, was given the title of Thursday in [[G. K. Chesterton]]'s novel ''[[The Man Who Was Thursday]]'' (1908).
*The titular day in ''[[Sweet Thursday]]'' (1954) (the sequel to [[John Steinbeck]]'s novel ''[[Cannery Row (novel)|Cannery Row]]'' (1945)), the author explains, is the day after Lousy Wednesday and the day before Waiting Friday.
*In ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' by [[Douglas Adams]], the character [[Arthur Dent]] says: "This must be Thursday. I never could get the hang of Thursdays". A few minutes later the planet [[Earth]] is destroyed. In another Douglas Adams book, ''[[The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul]]'' (1988), one of the characters says to the character Thor, after whom the day was named: "I'm not used to spending the evening with someone who's got a whole day named after them".
*In the [[cross media]] work ''[[Thursday's Fictions]]'' by [[Richard James Allen]] and [[Karen Pearlman]], Thursday is the title character, a woman who tries to cheat the cycle of [[reincarnation]] to get a form of [[immortality|eternal life]].  ''Thursday's Fictions'' has been a stage production, a book, a film and an 3D online immersive world in [[Second Life]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.realtimearts.net/article/80/8662 |title=Magazine – issue 80 – dance film: spiritual odyssey |publisher=RealTime Arts |access-date=6 August 2012}}</ref>
*[[Thursday Next]] is the central character in a series of novels by [[Jasper Fforde]].
*In [[Garth Nix]]'s popular [[The Keys to the Kingdom]] series, Thursday is an antagonist, a violent general who is a personification of the actual day and the [[Seven Deadly Sins|Sin of Wrath]].
*According to [[Nostradamus]]' prediction (Century 1, Quatrain 50), a powerful (but otherwise unidentified) leader who will threaten "the East" will be born of three [[water signs]] and takes Thursday as his feast day.<ref>{{cite web |author=Nostradamus |url=http://www.nostradamusquatrains.com/Century1/Quatrain50.htm |title=Century 1 – Quatrain 50 |publisher=Nostradamus Quatrains |access-date=6 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120827075216/http://www.nostradamusquatrains.com/Century1/Quatrain50.htm |archive-date=27 August 2012 }}</ref>

===Cinema===
*[[Thursday (1998 film)|''Thursday'' (1998 film)]] is a movie starring [[Thomas Jane]], about the day of a drug dealer gone straight, who gets pulled back into his old lifestyle.
*''[[The Thursday]]'' (1963), is an Italian film.

===Music===
{{unreferenced section|date=July 2021}}
*''[[Thursday Afternoon]]'' is a 1985 album by the British ambient musician [[Brian Eno]] consisting of one 60-minute-long composition. It is the rearranged soundtrack to a video production of the same title made in 1984.
*''[[Donnerstag aus Licht]]'' (Thursday from [[Licht|Light]]) is an opera by [[Karlheinz Stockhausen]].
*[[Thursday (band)|Thursday]] is a post-hardcore band from New Brunswick, New Jersey, formed in 1997.
*"[[Thursday's Child (David Bowie song)|Thursday's Child]]" is a [[David Bowie]] song from the album ''hours...''(1999).
*"Thursday's Child" is a song by [[The Chameleons]] on ''[[Script of the Bridge]]'' (1983).
*"Outlook for Thursday" was a hit in [[New Zealand]] for [[Dave Dobbyn]].
*[[Thursday (mixtape)]]" is the name of a mixtape by [[Contemporary R&B|R&B]] artist [[The Weeknd]] released in 2011.
*[[Living Room (AJR album)|"Thirsty"]] is a song by American pop band [[AJR]] that prominently features the lyrics 'Thirsty, thirsty Thursday'<ref>{{Citation |title=AJR – Thirsty |url=https://genius.com/Ajr-thirsty-lyrics |access-date=2024-08-25}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
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{{Days of the week}}

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[[Category:Days of the week|4 Thursday]]
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