week
Americannoun
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weeks
plural
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a period of seven successive days.
That wallpapering I thought I could do in two days ended up taking me a whole week.
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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.
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a period of seven successive days that begins with or includes an indicated day.
the week of June 3; Christmas week.
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(often initial capital letter) a period of seven successive days devoted to a particular celebration, honor, cause, etc..
National Book Week.
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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
noun
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a period of seven consecutive days, esp one beginning with Sunday
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a period of seven consecutive days beginning from or including a specified day
Easter week
a week from Wednesday
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the period of time within a week devoted to work
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a week devoted to the celebration of a cause
adverb
Usage
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.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of week
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” ( see vice 3)
Explanation
Seven days make up one week, and there are 52 weeks in a year. If you won't see your friend again until next Thursday, you can say, "See you next week!" Before the adoption of the Roman calendar, a week was more of a vague kind of change or succession, like the turning of a full moon to a half moon, for example. The modern week is strictly calendar-related, and seven days long, unless you're talking about a "work week" or a "school week," as in "I have Friday off, so my school week ends tomorrow!"
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
This week, we’re talking about a mega-merger, Spain, and artificial intelligence.
From Slate ● Oct. 10, 2026
Donald played 35 snaps and made one tackle and had a quarterback hit in a defeat by the Denver Broncos but did not practice the following week.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2026
California-based Pacific Coast Energy Co., among newcomers to Venezuela’s energy patch, said this week that it has started a program to reactivate 900 wells in Cabimas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
On week one of the competition, Mahir landed star baker after he stunned TV judges Nigella Lawson and Paul Hollywood with his peanut and caramel chocolate stout cake.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
The Manor is set to open a week from tomorrow.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
In recent weeks, professional money managers have grappled with a punishing bond selloff, rising fuel costs and a stock-market rally that is increasingly dependent on a handful of tech stocks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026
He received a response from Curry's team three weeks before his final performance, saying that he was "very appreciative" of that letter and thanked him for sending it.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
Before that, Zacharia worked as a deputy assistant secretary of Homeland Security for Public Affairs, starting in February 2026, but resigned just weeks later in March.
From Salon ● Oct. 9, 2026
With no flooding, refineries could be expected to resume operations within weeks, with roughly the same recovery timetable for offshore oil platforms, he said.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
I suppose we must have been three weeks or so into our journey across Germany, and we were making much slower progress than Peter had expected.
From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
