week

[week]

noun

1. a period of seven successive days.

   That wallpapering I thought I could do in two days ended up taking me a whole week.

2. the period of seven days from Sunday through Saturday, generally understood as the common representation of a week on a calendar.

   The 1st of next month is a Tuesday, so the first full week will begin on the 6th.

3. a period of seven successive days that begins with or includes an indicated day.

   the week of June 3; Christmas week.

4. (often initial capital letter),  a period of seven successive days devoted to a particular celebration, honor, cause, etc..

   National Book Week.

5. the working days or working portion of the seven-day period; workweek.

   Not all American workers put in the same number of hours on the job, but a 40-hour week is the norm.

adverb

1. British.,  seven days before or after a specified day.

   I shall come Tuesday week. He left yesterday week.

week

/ wiːk /

noun

1. a period of seven consecutive days, esp one beginning with Sunday

2. a period of seven consecutive days beginning from or including a specified day

   Easter week

   a week from Wednesday

3. the period of time within a week devoted to work

4. a week devoted to the celebration of a cause

adverb

1. seven days before or after a specified day

   I'll visit you Wednesday week

Word History and Origins

Origin of week¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English weke, Old English wice; cognate with Dutch week, Old Norse vika “week,” Gothic wikō “turn”; akin to Latin vicis (genitive) “turn” ( vice ³ )

Word History and Origins

Origin of week¹

Old English wice, wicu, wucu; related to Old Norse vika, Gothic wikō order

Example Sentences

All participants received four weeks of antipsychotic treatment, after which researchers assessed various mental health indicators.

Read more on Science Daily

What makes it more striking: Colbert filmed his Elsbeth scenes the very same week that CBS announced it would cancel The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.

Read more on Salon

Last week, Swansea Crown Court heard the pair had exchanged a series of messages about killing Mr Mills, but Mrs Mills has claimed she never meant for her husband to be harmed.

Read more on BBC

Torrential rains battered several Mexican states over several days last week, turning village streets into rivers, triggering landslides and sweeping away roads and bridges.

Read more on Barron's

CPS chief Stephen Parkinson said last week the case had been dropped because the government failed to provide evidence Beijing was a security threat.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• age 
• date 
• day 
• era 
• future 
• generation 
• hour 
• life 
• moment 
• month 
• occasion 
• pace 
• past 
• point 
• present 
• season 
• second 
• space 
• stage 
• term 

When To Use

What does week mean?

Week most generally refers to any period of seven consecutive days.The word week also commonly refers to the seven-day period that begins on Sunday and ends on Saturday (though in some places this may be different, with the week considered to begin on Monday, for example). There are 52 of these weeks in a calendar year.Sometimes, the word week is used to refer to a seven-day period that begins or includes a specific day, as in the week of September 5 or Thanksgiving week. It can also be used to refer to a seven-day period dedicated to a specific cause or cultural observation, as in National Grief Awareness Week.The word week is also often used to refer to the workweek (or schoolweek) to distinguish this span of (often five) days from the weekend. The standard workweek is from Monday through Friday, with Saturday and Sunday being considered the weekend, though working schedules vary widely. Many full-time jobs consist of a 40-hour week (five eight-hour days).The days within this five-day span are called weekdays, and the evenings of those days are called weeknights. The middle of the week is called midweek.The word weekly most commonly means done or happening once a week or every week, as in a weekly meeting. Example: They said it would take a week to get a reply, and it’s been six days already, so I’m hoping for a response tomorrow.