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How Sunday got its name
The name for Sunday stems from the Middle English word sunnenday, which itself comes from the Old English word sunnandæg. The English derivations stem from the Latin diēs sōlis (“sun’s day”).
To know why this particular day is devoted to the sun, you have to look to Babylonian times.
The Babylonians were the first to start the seven-day week, and they brought it to the Latin-speaking Romans, who named each day after a god. Germanic and Nordic people did the same, but replaced the Roman gods with their own corresponding gods.
The similarities between the two can be seen today for every day but Sunday. With Christianity, Latin-derived Romance languages changed the dedication from “sun’s day” to “lord’s day” (domingo in Spanish, dimanche in French, and domenica in Italian). “Sun’s day” stuck, however, in the languages that would become modern English. 0 reply
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