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单词 week
释义

weekn.

Brit. /wiːk/, U.S. /wik/
Forms:

α. early Old English wiecan (inflected form), early Old English wiic- (in compounds), early Old English wiice, Old English uica (Northumbrian, dative), Old English–early Middle English wic- (inflected form and in compounds), late Old English wycena (genitive plural), Middle English wijkes (plural), Middle English wike, Middle English wike (plural), Middle English wyckes (northern, plural), Middle English wyk, Middle English wyke (plural), Middle English wykkes (plural), Middle English (1800s– English regional) wik, Middle English–1500s (1900s– representing U.S. regional speech (Virginia)) wyke, 1500s wyck, 1500s wycke, 1500s wyeke, 1500s–1600s wicke, 1500s–1600s wieke, 1500s–1600s (1800s– English regional) wick, 1800s wic (English regional); Scottish pre-1700 quhilk, pre-1700 uick, pre-1700 uicke, pre-1700 uik, pre-1700 wicke, pre-1700 wiek, pre-1700 wik, pre-1700 wike, pre-1700 wylk, pre-1700 1900s– wick; Irish English (Wexford) 1800s wick, 1800s wik.

β. Old English wucu, Old English–early Middle English wuc- (in compounds), Old English (rare)–early Middle English (in copy of Old English charter) wuca, Old English–early Middle English wuce, early Middle English wukce (genitive), Middle English wocke, Middle English woke (plural), Middle English wokke, Middle English wolkes (plural), Middle English wook, Middle English wougys (plural), Middle English wouk, Middle English wouke, Middle English wouke (plural), Middle English wowke, Middle English wuke, Middle English wuke (plural), Middle English wukkes (plural), Middle English–1500s wok, Middle English–1500s woke, Middle English–1500s wooke, 1500s wock; Scottish pre-1700 voik, pre-1700 vok, pre-1700 volk, pre-1700 vouk, pre-1700 vulk, pre-1700 woik, pre-1700 woilk, pre-1700 wok, pre-1700 woke, pre-1700 wolk, pre-1700 wolke, pre-1700 wooke, pre-1700 wouk, pre-1700 wouke, pre-1700 woulk, pre-1700 wouyk, pre-1700 wowk, pre-1700 wowke, pre-1700 wox (plural), pre-1700 wulk, 1700s wook.

γ. Old English ucan (inflected form), Old English ucu- (in compounds), Middle English oke (probably transmission error); Scottish pre-1700 houk, pre-1700 houlk, pre-1700 howlk, pre-1700 oikkes (plural), pre-1700 ok, pre-1700 okkis (plural), pre-1700 ouck, pre-1700 ouik, pre-1700 ouke, pre-1700 oulke, pre-1700 ovik, pre-1700 owik, pre-1700 owyk, pre-1700 vlk, pre-1700 wk, pre-1700 wke, pre-1700 1700s olk, pre-1700 1700s oulk, pre-1700 1700s owlk, pre-1700 1700s ulk, pre-1700 1700s–1800s owk, pre-1700 1700s–1800s owke, pre-1700 1700s– ouk, pre-1700 1800s oik, 1800s oock, 1800s uke, 1800s– ook.

δ. Middle English veke, Middle English wakys (plural), Middle English weik (northern), Middle English wek, Middle English weke (plural), Middle English wekkes (plural), Middle English weyk (north-east midlands), Middle English weyke, Middle English–1600s weke, Middle English–1700s weeke, Middle English– week, 1500s weicke, 1500s–1600s weake, 1600s ueke, 1600s weike, 1800s weeak (English regional (Lincolnshire)); Scottish pre-1700 veek, pre-1700 veick, pre-1700 veik, pre-1700 vek, pre-1700 veke, pre-1700 veuk, pre-1700 weeik, pre-1700 weeke, pre-1700 weick, pre-1700 weik, pre-1700 weike, pre-1700 wek, pre-1700 weke, pre-1700 welke, pre-1700 wewckis (plural), pre-1700 1700s– week.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian wike (West Frisian wike , North Frisian week , wik ), Old Saxon -wika (in krūciwika Holy Week, lit. ‘cross-week’; Middle Low German weke , wekene ), Middle Dutch weke , weike , weuke , wouke (Dutch week ), Old High German wehha , wohha (Middle High German woche , wuche , German Woche ), Old Icelandic vika , Norwegian (Nynorsk) veke , vike , (Bokmål) uke , Old Swedish vika , (rare) uka (Swedish vecka ), Old Danish ukæ (Danish uge ), perhaps < the same Germanic base as Old English wīcan to give way, Old Icelandic víkja to turn (see wike n.), and perhaps further related to classical Latin vicis (genitive singular) change, turn (see vice n.6). Compare ( < a Germanic language) Finnish viikko, Sami vakko, and related forms, in sense ‘week’.For the cultural origins of the seven-day week see the discussion at sense 1a. It has been argued that the Germanic base underlying the attested words had an earlier sense referring to changes of duty, which was then applied to the sequence of deities governing the weekly cycle, and finally transferred to the week itself. Such an earlier sense may be reflected by Old Icelandic vika unit of distance travelled at sea (perhaps with reference to the periodical change of rowing teams, although this cannot be independently substantiated), Gothic wiko order in which something happens (in an isolated example in Luke 1:8 with reference to the allocation of religious duties, translating ancient Greek τάξις order, arrangement: see taxis n.), and also Old English wīce office, duty, function (see wike n.). (The usual word for ‘week’ in the Gothic bible is sabbato ( < ancient Greek σάββατον the Sabbath, period between two sabbaths: see sabbath n.).) The Germanic base may show semantic influence from (perhaps ultimately cognate) classical Latin vicis (genitive) turn, change; it has also been suggested that it was borrowed directly < this Latin word. With use with reference to other calendrical systems based on different numbers of days (sense 1b) compare e.g. French decade ten-day unit of the French Republican calendar (1793: see decade n.), classical Latin nundinum Roman eight-day cycle between two market days (counted inclusively; < nundinae : see nundine n.), and (with quot. 1935) Old Norwegian fimt summons with five days' notice ( < the base of fimm five adj. + a dental suffix), sometimes interpreted as reflecting an earlier five-day week. Form history. In Old English usually a weak feminine (inflected wican , wucan , etc.; compare the early nominative singular wiice ); in West Saxon the originally strong feminine form wucu (see β. forms) is normally used for the nominative singular. In West Saxon the stem vowel i frequently undergoes back mutation to u as a result of the influence of the initial w and the u of the inflectional ending. In Middle English comparable forms, apparently due to the influence of initial w , also appear in other regional varieties (see β. forms). Loss of initial w before following u is occasionally attested in late West Saxon (see γ. forms); quot. c1460 at sense 1aγ. , if it is not simply a scribal error, may perhaps show an isolated reflex of such forms. Comparable forms are independently attested in Older Scots. Influence from Scandinavian languages has been suggested for the latter. In Middle English the word shows open syllable lengthening of i to long close ē , apparently originally in disyllabic forms in northern dialects; such forms subsequently also appear in other varieties (see δ. forms; an apparent earlier south-western example shown by the variant reading in quot. c1275 at sense 2 is probably a scribal error). Some examples of wick (with short ĭ , see α. forms) may show a subsequent shortening of long close ē. Older Scots spellings in -l- (e.g. wolk, oulk, ulk, etc.) are reverse spellings reflecting earlier vocalization of l.
1.
a. A unit of time consisting of a cycle of seven named or numbered days, one day being fixed as the first in the cycle; a single period of this cycle, being a space of seven successive days beginning with the day traditionally fixed as the first day of the week (generally Sunday or Monday).Although the seven-day week existed in earlier Mesopotamian societies, it is generally associated with the Jewish calendar. From there, the seven-day week was adopted into the calendars of Christian, Muslim, and various other peoples, and is now the international standard. The Jewish week began with the day after the Sabbath, and this beginning was adopted by the Christian church, where it later became the Christian day of rest. The days of the Jewish week, except the seventh (the Sabbath), were not named, but were distinguished only by number; in early Christian use the name Sabbath was retained for the seventh day, and the first day was called the Lord's Day (Hellenistic Greek ἡ κυριακὴ ἡμέρα, post-classical Latin dies Dominicus: see Lord's day n.), the other days being numbered only.The English names for the days of the week derive from the planetary week, an astrological week independent of the Judaeo-Christian conception, arising from the practice (first followed in Egypt) of assigning each of the hours of the day to the ‘control’ of one of the seven planets (planet n. 1a), in a fixed sequence from Saturn to the Moon, according to their supposed distance from the earth in the Ptolemaic system. Each whole day (of 24 hours) then took its name from the planet controlling its first hour. The planetary names, classical Latin diēs sōlis, diēs lunae, diēs martis, etc., came into common use in the Roman Empire, and were adopted in translated form by the Germanic peoples, including the Angles and Saxons (before they came to Britain); the names Mars, Mercurius, etc., being understood as names of Roman gods, were translated using the names of the Germanic gods supposed to correspond to these; for further details see the entries Tuesday n., Wednesday n., etc. See also D. H. Green Lang. & Hist. Early Germanic World (1998) 236–53.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > period > a week > [noun]
weekeOE
sennightOE
seven daysOE
weekOE
seven days and seven nightsOE
(an) eight daysc1160
a week of daysa1382
week1398
sennight dayc1425
septimane1450
seventh night1567
sennight space1599
hebdomad1600
septuary1646
heptad1876
α.
eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 878 Þa on þære seofoðan wiecan ofer Eastron he gerad to Ecgbryhtes stane.
eOE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Tanner) v. ii. 388 Mid ðy hit ða an wiice ðæs fæstnes gefylled wæs.
OE On Four Ember-Fasts (Laud) in H. Henel Stud. zum Altenglischen Computus (1934) 61 On kalendis Iunii, on þære æfteran wican.
a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 139 Þis halie dei..is sunnen dei icleoped...Alle oðer daȝes of þe wike beoð to þreldome to þis dei.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 6950 Þene feorðe dæi i þere wike heo ȝifuen him [sc. Woden] to wurð-scipe.
c1300 St. Michael (Laud) 438 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 312 Þe seoue Dawes in þe wyke þare-aftur I-nemde beoth.
a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1881) ii. l. 430 I shal nomore com here þis wyke.
1455 J. Fastolf in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 140 My lord of Norwich shal the next wyke visite the hous of Hykelyng.
1530 Myroure Oure Ladye (Fawkes) (1873) i. 4 The seconde parte ys of your seuen storyes, accordynge to the seuen dayes of the wyeke.
1590 in P. H. Hore Hist. Wexford (1900) I. 271 James..went to St. James' faire to Bristowe the last wick.
1656 C. Longland Let. 14 Apr. in Coll. State Papers J. Thurloe (1742) IV. 674 My letters from Rom this wieke tel me great newes from Ingland.
1999 N. L. Tawes Bunky's Cab 87 Oi hope He dassint git here 'til next wyke.
β. OE Byrhtferð Enchiridion (Ashm.) (1995) ii. iii. 112 Seo wucu on Grecisc hatte ebdomada and on Lyden septimana. Seofon daga ryne ys seo wucu, and feower wucan wyrcað anne monð.lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1118 On þison geare on þære wucon Theophanie wæs anes æfenes swyðe mycel lihtinge.lOE tr. Honorius Augustodunensis Elucidarium in R. D.-N. Warner Early Eng. Homilies (1917) 144 Hwy aras ure Drihten of deaðe þæs formeste dæȝes þære wuca?c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 4173 Itt iss aȝȝ heh messe daȝȝ. Att here wukess ende.a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 3 Hit [sc. Advent] lasteð þre wuke fulle and sum del more.c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 2431 Of þe wouke þen verþe day In oure tonge ycluped in hononour [read honour] of him is wodnes day.a1425 Rule St. Benet (Lansd.) (1902) 29 Al þe wukis in þe summir, sal ye faste ilke wuke tua dais.c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Law of Armys (2005) 284 The peple desyris..the mare to se him, na he rade euery day, or euery wolk or moneth.1552 Abp. J. Hamilton Catech. i. viii. f. 22v Als well on the Satterday as ony other day of the wouke.γ. OE tr. Theodulf of Orleans Capitula (Bodl.) xxxvi. 377 On þære ærestan ucan [L. ebdomada] ær Lenctenes anginne andetnissa mæssepreostum syndon to syllanne.c1460 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Harl. 1239) (1940) l. 1539 Oke [c1405 Hengwrt Selde is the friday al the wike ylike]. 1508 Golagros & Gawane (Chepman & Myllar) sig. diiiiv With reualing and reuay all the oulk hale.1565 in J. H. Burton Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1877) 1st Ser. I. 332 That na sellaris be oppynnit bot thryis in the oulk for selling of thair geir.1566 in D. H. Fleming Mary Q. of Scots (1897) 495 Nocht onlie the twa Sondayis bot also the hole rest of the olk.1608 Rec. Innerwick in A. I. Ritchie Ch. St. Baldred (1880) 114 The examination to begin ye nixt olk..for that purpose.1614 in H. M. Paton Accts. Masters of Wks. (1957) I. 343 The uther oulk at the founding of the dykis to the maissounes.1728 A. Ramsay Robert Richy & Sandy 31 Last ouk I dream'd my tup..brak his leg.1796 A. Steel Twa Cuckolds in A. Steel & R. Gall Twa Cuckolds & Tint Quey 6 Ye ken, ye heard me say, I this owk in his loof wad lay.1807 R. Tannahill Soldier's Return ii. iii Wife—fetch my bonnet that I caft last owk.1868 G. MacDonald Robert Falconer I. xi. 137 I'll think aboot it whan ance I'm throu wi' this job. That'll be neist ook or thereabouts, or aiblins two days efter.1909 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 25 Sept. 892/1 The minister has been catecheezin' in yere barn last ook.1993 J. J. Graham Shetland Dict. (rev. ed.) 61/1 Ook, week.δ. a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. l. 957 He..Of sevene daies made a weke.a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) II. 1 Þe Wednesdai in þe firste weke of Advent.?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 61 On þe Seterday it rynnez fast, and all þe weke elles it standes still.1529 T. More Let. 3 Sept. in Wks. (1557) 1419/2 I shal (I think)..get leaue this next weke to come home and se you.1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. ccxxxj That thre daies in the weke they tame theyr body with fastynge.a1633 G. Herbert Outlandish Prov. (1640) sig. C5v Thursday come, and the week's gone.1665 R. Boyle Occas. Refl. v. v. sig. Kk7v A Colour'd suit, that, but last Week, would have been thought a fine one.1740 Countess of Pomfret in Countess of Hartford & Countess of Pomfret Corr. (1805) I. 208 As this is a week of great devotion and retirement with all good catholics, so it is a week of great idleness and equal retirement with us protestants.1752 S. Johnson Rambler No. 199. ⁋3 I have sat whole weeks without sleep by the side of an athanor, to watch the moment of projection.1837 W. Whewell Hist. Inductive Sci. I. 140 We may probably consider the week, with Laplace as ‘the most ancient monument of astronomical knowledge’.1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers xliii. 473 You couldn't make it convenient to lend me half a crown till the latter end of next week, could you?1849 C. Brontë Shirley I. i. 5 The present week is yet but at Thursday, and on Monday [etc.].1867 E. A. Freeman in W. R. W. Stephens Life & Lett. E. A. Freeman (1895) I. 391 Last week I have been working at the early life of Lanfranc.1902 J. M. Robertson Hist. Christianity 71 Mithra..being the first of the seven planetary spirits on whose names the week was based.1965 Lincoln (Nebraska) Star 6 Oct. 18/4 It's Wednesday and the week is half over.2004 .net Christmas 102/4 The study also found that site audiences vary according to the time of the day and day of the week.
b. Any of various units of time analogous to the week (sense 1a), but consisting of cycles of more or fewer than seven days; spec. (a) the cycle of eight days used by the Romans prior to the adoption of the seven-day week (cf. nundine n.); (b) the cycle of ten days instigated in France during the French Revolution (= decade n. 2b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > period > a week > [noun] > in different societies
week1604
1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies vi. ii. 435 They [sc. the Aztecs] accompted their weekes [Sp. semanas] by thirteene dayes, marking the dayes with a Zero or cipher.
1814 H. M. Williams tr. A. von Humboldt Res. Anc. Inhabitants Amer. II. 123 The Muysca week [Fr. semaine] was distinguished from all known in the history of chronology; it had only three days.
1852 E. Greswell Fasti Temporis Catholici I. ii. vi. 182 The Romans had their week, as much as the Jews and Christians of antiquity; only the Roman week was one of eight days.
1916 Jrnl. Egyptian Archaeol. 3 32 The Egyptian week or dekad..consisted of 10 days.
1935 L. M. Larson in tr. Earliest Norwegian Laws Gloss. 415 In matters of law and public business the five-day week continued in use.
1963 L. W. Cowie 18th-cent. Europe xvii. 329 [The] new republican calendar, which fixed 22nd September 1792 as its beginning and had months named after the appropriate weather or crops and a ten-day week. This, however, was widely ignored by the French people.
2000 M. Diener in J. S. DeLoache & A. Gottlieb World of Babies (2001) iv. 106 You will want to consult the pelelintangan chart that cross-references the five- and seven-day weeks of the Pawukon calendar.
2. A space of seven successive days, irrespective of the time from which it is reckoned.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > period > a week > [noun]
weekeOE
sennightOE
seven daysOE
weekOE
seven days and seven nightsOE
(an) eight daysc1160
a week of daysa1382
week1398
sennight dayc1425
septimane1450
seventh night1567
sennight space1599
hebdomad1600
septuary1646
heptad1876
the world > time > period > a week > [adverb]
weekOE
the world > time > period > a week > [noun] > despite the time from which it is reckoned
weekOE
OE Acct. Voy. Ohthere & Wulfstan in tr. Orosius Hist. (Tiber.) (1980) i. i. 15 On sumum stowum swa brad swa man mæg on twam wucum oferferan.
OE Byrhtferð Enchiridion (Ashm.) (1995) i. i. 2 Of þisum dagum beoð gesette twelf monðas, on þam beoð twa and fifti wucena æfter þære sunnan ryne.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 11443 To feouwer wikene [c1300 Otho wekene] uirste þat wrec wes iuorðed.
c1300 St. Francis (Laud) 431 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 66 Seint Fraunceis was..in þe ordre twenti ȝer, And two ȝer and al-mest þreo wyke.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. ix. ix. 529 A moneþ conteyneþ foure wekis, and a woke seuene naturel dayes.
a1450 St. Edith (Faust.) (1883) l. 1662 He regnede not foure ȝere here, By sixe wykeus, as yche vnderstonde, Þat he nas martrid.
c1466 J. Russe in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 352 I thynke of euery day a wyke tyl ye be content.
a1529 J. Skelton Magnyfycence (?1530) sig. Ciiii I haue not kept her yet thre wokys.
1553 in J. D. Marwick Extracts Rec. Burgh Edinb. (1871) II. 278 The expensis of the ulk precedand the xxvj day of Marche.
1615 R. Cocks Diary (1883) I. 9 He hath byn in this place a wick, and never came into the English howse till now.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 3 (1623) ii. v. 36 So many Dayes, my Ewes haue bene with yong: So many weekes, ere the poore Fooles will Eane. View more context for this quotation
1734 A. Pope Satires of Horace ii. ii. 93 A Buck was then a week's repast, And 'twas their point, I ween, to make it last.
1736 Bp. J. Butler Analogy of Relig. i. i. 21 A Man determines,..that he will walk to such a Place with a Staff a Week hence.
1787 J. Hoy Let. 31 Oct. in Burns' Wks. (1809) II. 110 I should give him nought but Stra'bogie castocks to chew for sax ouks.
1825 G. Craddock Let. 29 Nov. in T. Sokoll Essex Pauper Lett. (2001) 458 I have left the Hospital three weeks ago as uncurable.
1856 C. M. Yonge Daisy Chain i. ix She was within six weeks of seventeen, and surely she need not be sent down again to the schoolroom.
1865 A. D. Whitney Gayworthys xlii Then there came a week of rain.
1928 P. G. Wodehouse Good Morning, Bill i. 19 ‘What are you doing about two weeks from now?’..‘Nothing in particular. Just beetling around.’
1933 Times 15 Mar. 15/2 During the past week the Nazi steam-roller has passed over every one of the seventeen Federal States of the Reich.
1976 Nature 1 Apr. 438/2 Rats immunized in this way develop..a second chronic episode after 4 or more weeks.
2002 R. Shehadeh Strangers in House vi. 46 On Thursday began a week that would be one of the most critical in my father's life.
3. With prefixed word. Frequently with capital initial.
a. A week of each year associated with a particular festival, commemoration, etc., esp. as part of the ecclesiastical calendar.A number of weeks of the ecclesiastical calendar are referred to in this way. Most such examples are treated more fully at the first elements (see Easter week, ember-week, Great Week, Pentecost week, Procession week, Rogation Week, etc.) or as full entries (see Gang Week n., Holy Week n., Passion Week n., etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > period > a week > [noun] > some particular week
seven daysOE
weekOE
OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Cambr. Univ. Libr.) xx. 17 (rubric) Ðys godspel gebyrað on wodnesdæg on þære oðre lenctenwucan.
OE tr. Felix St. Guthlac (Vesp.) (1909) xx. 161 Þa eft þan ylcan dæge on þære eastorwucan he þæt lif of þam lichaman sende.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 57 Haldeð silence..in þe aduent..& þe swi[ȝen] wike [a1250 Nero swiðwike].
c1450 (c1430) Brut (Galba) (1908) 437 In Cristemesse wike.
c1500 in J. Cooper Cartularium Eccl. St. Nicholai Aberdonensis (1888) I. 259 One Wedinsday in ye penthicost owk nixt eftir ye synod.
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 450 Milke woort..doth specially flourish in the Crosse or..Rogation weeke.
1662 S. Pepys Diary 24 Mar. (1970) III. 51 I went to see if any play was acted, and I find none upon the post, it being passion week.
1710 Let. 28 Mar. in I. Newton Corr. (1975) V. 17 If you adiourn the Society for that, & the Holyday-Week, the Dr will be back ready to execute the Office of Secretary.
1736 J. Kelly Fall of Bob I. 6 It was in the Christmas Week, When my Granny she sate by the Fire, She sent me to buy an Ox-Cheek, And I fell with it all in the Mire.
1826 T. Wright Hist. & Antiq. Ludlow (ed. 2) 193 The Quarter Sessions are held here before the Recorder,..on Thursday after Epiphany week.
1912 Edison Monthly Apr. 363 This year the Passover week is from the second to the ninth of April.
1981 Ebony Jr! Dec. 44/2 I even know my Nguzo Saba, the seven beliefs celebrated during Kwanza week.
2005 Church Times 24 Mar. 11/3 For Holy Week each year, we bring out a marvellous set of Stations of the Cross, painted by an artist in the congregation.
b. A week during which an event or action takes place (for all or part of the week), occurring on one occasion only, or on an annual or otherwise recurrent basis.For court week, cricket week, pay week, race week, reading week, etc.: see the first element.
ΚΠ
1523–4 in H. Littlehales Medieval Rec. London City Church (1905) 322 Mr parson gave to them a playng weke to make mery.
a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1959) V. 178 Doe not thinke to put off all to the washing weeke; all thy sinnes, all thy repentance, to Easter, and the Sacrament then.
1692 S. Pepys Let. Easter Monday in Diary & Corr. (1867) IV. 252 The last being Confession, this in all good conscience should be Restitution Week [i.e. when Pepys should return papers borrowed from John Evelyn].
1761 G. Colman Jealous Wife ii. 21 How unlucky it is, that this damn'd Accident shou'd happen in the New-market Week!
1797 Norfolk Chron. 15 July Swaffham Assembly will be on Wednesday, July 19th, 1797 (being Cricket Match Week).
1839 R. L. Venables Domest. Scenes in Russia xviii. 243 Indeed, the carnival-week is, strictly speaking, a commencement of the [Lenten] fast, or a sort of preparation for it.
1890 W. Booth In Darkest Eng. ii. vi. 231 Self-denial..[which] the Soldiers of the Salvation Army practice every year in Self Denial Week.
1962 Times 21 Apr. 3/3 It was in 1960 that Burnley won the title during Cup Final week in their last game, at Maine Road against Manchester City.
2011 New Yorker 3 Oct. 12/3 By happy accident, the opening of this irresistible two-gallery show..coincided with fashion week.
c. A week during which attention is focused on a particular item or issue, esp. to promote it or to raise awareness.
ΚΠ
1892 Daily Citizen (Iowa City, Iowa) 22 Sept. Sweet Potato Week. At Hinman & Showers'. One bushel for $1.00.
1917 Wells Fargo Messenger 5 133/2 (caption) Native sons of the Golden West begin ‘Prune Week’ ceremonies.
1965 ‘E. McBain’ He who Hesitates iii. 34 ‘How come everybody's so eager to join me this morning?’ Roger asked. ‘Who knows?.. Maybe it's national brotherhood week.’
1977 Lancashire Life Mar. 99/1 He won a prize for the best money-raising poster during Warships Week.
1996 Cycle Touring & Campaigning Apr. 9/1 National Bike Week 1996..is the most important since the CTC launched National Cycling Week in 1923.
2000 Adv. Driving (Inst. Adv. Motorists) Summer 39/1 Road Safety Week this year saw the Institute re-introduce the discount vouchers for Associates between 17–25.
4. The part of the week that is spent in work, rather than at leisure; spec. (before the 20th cent.) the six working days as opposed to Sunday; the period from Monday to Saturday inclusive; (now usually) the five working days as opposed to the weekend; the period from Monday to Friday inclusive. Also: a unit of calculation representing work or service done in such a period, esp. for the payment of wages. Cf. three-day week at three adj. and n. Compounds 3b, weekday n. 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > period > a day or twenty-four hours > [noun] > week day > week or six working days
weekOE
working weeka1658
OE Ælfric De Temporibus Anni (Cambr. Gg.3.28) (2009) iii. 82 Gif se terminus bescyt on sumum dæge þære wucan, ðonne bið se sunnandæg þær æfter easterdæg.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 212 Me let of bodiliche workes of þe woke uor betere to onderstonde to bidde god.
c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. vii. l. 243 For summe of my seruauns beoþ seke oþer-while, Of alle þe wike [c1400 Trin Cambr. wyke, a1425 Univ. Oxf. wowke, a1475 Harl. 875 weke] heo Worcheþ not so heor wombe akeþ.
1414–15 in R. W. Chambers & M. Daunt Bk. London Eng. (1931) 121 John hath receiued paiement for lxxvj wokes.
1477 in E. Hobhouse Church-wardens' Accts. (1890) 110 For mendyng of the organs for v wokes, labor..xs.
1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet i. i. 75 Why such impresse of ship-writes, whose sore taske Does not diuide the sunday from the weeke.
1649 Mercurius Pragmaticus (for King Charls II) No. 8. 69 All the week we are Slaves to the Independent, and on Sunday to the Presbyter.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 112. ¶1 Sunday clears away the Rust of the whole Week.
1797 tr. Chateaubriand in Monthly Rev. 22 App. 545 The temples are shut all the week, and a few short prayers compose the whole Sunday observance.
1882 W. Besant All Sorts of Men II. xxix. 240 On this Sunday morning, when the old man looked as if the cares of the week were off his mind.
1922 L. Mumford in H. E. Stearns Civilization in U.S. 8 The factory whistle closes the week.
1978 E. Anderson Place on Corner (1981) iv. 115 Friday is payday for many of the regulars, and they usually pour into Jelly's to celebrate the end of the week.
2010 Grocer Feb. 32/1 The fish is now being eaten less frequently during the week and more at the weekend, suggesting it is perceived as more of a special purchase than an everyday food.
5.
a. In expressions of frequency: a period of seven days. Chiefly in adverbial phrases, the overall senses of which correspond to uses of weekly adv.
ΚΠ
OE tr. Chrodegang of Metz Regula Canonicorum (Corpus Cambr. 191) xxx. 231 Munecas sceolon ælcere wucan, and preostas ymbe þreo wucan don heora andytnysse heora bisceope.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 254 Of alle þulliche þing schriue hire euche wike eanes edþe leste.
a1325 Statutes of Realm (2011) xiii. 68 Te baillifs..eche woke, oþer eche forteniȝt ate leste, sullen maken enquestes of men herburgers.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1874) V. 415 He usede twyes a wooke [?a1475 anon. tr. twyes in a weke] to sitte al day to fore þe chirche dore.
1389 in R. W. Chambers & M. Daunt Bk. London Eng. (1931) 54 Ȝif any brother falle in non power by auenture of godes sonde, & he haue paid to þe almes box his afferaunt, he schal haue eueri wyke of þe box to his sustinance xiiij d.
a1425 (?c1350) Ywain & Gawain (1964) l. 3058 (MED) Ilkone of us withouten lesyng Might win ilk wike fourty shilling.
1463 in Manners & Househ. Expenses Eng. (1841) 225 My masters gonner..schalle have every weke xij.d., and mete, and drynke, and beddynge.
1533 T. More Debellacyon Salem & Bizance Pref. f. iiiv And of this trayuayle.., I herd myche speech made, almoste euery weke.
c1600 (?c1395) Pierce Ploughman's Crede (Trin. Cambr. R.3.15) (1873) l. 13 Þe Lengþe of a Lenten flech moot y leue..And Wedenes-day iche wyke wiþ-outen flech-mete.
a1632 T. Middleton & J. Webster Any Thing for Quiet Life (1662) v. sig. G2v The day after washing day, once a week, I see't at home.
1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson ii. viii. 222 At Cheripe, there is a constant store of provisions prepared for the vessels who go thither every week from Panama.
1786 Gentleman's Mag. Mar. 262/1 Each professor is to read two hours in each week.
1826 R. Mills Statistics S. Carolina 428 The South Carolina Society..originated with a few French refugees, who met once or twice every week.
1902 Daily Chron. 17 May 6/4 There are many families who make it a habit to have a table collection each week for some religious or philanthropic work.
1984 New Yorker 14 May 42/2 How many times per week do you have sexual relations? On the average—just a ballpark figure.
2010 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 12 Sept. (Week in Review section) 1/1 There were the ‘mad minute’ math quizzes twice each week, with the results elaborately graphed.
b. A week, or a working week, considered with reference to periodical payments of wages, rent, or the like (frequently in adverbial phrases); this unit of time considered as a unit of calculation representing work or service done or due in such a period.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > period > a week > [noun] > as a unit for reckoning work, etc.
week1389
weekdaya1400
five-day week1926
1389 in J. T. Smith & L. T. Smith Eng. Gilds (1870) 18 (MED) Euery brother and sister shal payen, in ye woke, to ye kepers of yis fraternite, a ferthyng.
1426–7 in H. Littlehales Medieval Rec. London City Church (1905) 66 (MED) Payd to Thomas Seviere and his felawe to set vndir þe clerkis chamber dore þe..mason a hole woke, iiij s. iij d.
1492 in T. Dickson Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1877) I. 205 And for alimos, gevin woulkly, of xxiiij wokkis, xlviij li.
1527 in State Papers Henry VIII (1836) IV. 473 After the rate of 18d by the wooke.
1552–3 in J. D. Marwick Extracts Rec. Burgh Edinb. (1871) II. 342 Item to Andro Mansioun for half ane ulk's wage.
1557–8 in H. Littlehales Medieval Rec. London City Church (1905) 409 Payde to wyllyam Elssame for j quarter and vj wyekes the soms of xix s. vj d.
1580 Accts. of Thomas Fermor in Archæol. Jrnl. (1851) 8 181 Pd for xii weickes bord for Mr. Richard Farmor and his man, at viis the weicke iiijli iiijs.
a1687 W. Petty Polit. Arithm. (1690) 101 The Wages of a..Labourer..is 4s. per week without Victuals.
1775 S. Johnson Let. 13 June (1992) II. 224 The Ladies..pay each twopence a week to the box.
1784 Morning Chron. 26 May 4/1 (advt.) The above premises may be taken by the week, and entered upon immediately.
1842 C. Dickens Amer. Notes I. iii. 141 The House is full of boarders,..many of whom..contract by the week for their board and lodging.
1882 W. Besant All Sorts of Men II. xxii. 113 And in two days more the week's rent would be due.
1886 C. E. Pascoe London of To-day (ed. 3) ii. 39 A week's notice is the general rule before vacating rooms.
1914 ‘I. Hay’ Knight on Wheels xviii I have two thousand a year... I don't know how much that is a week, but I'll work it out some day in shillings and see.
1979 N.Y. Mag. 25 June 64/2 The tenants paid for six weeks of air conditioning and the landlord did not furnish six weeks of air conditioning.
2005 J. Connor Pointless (2006) xi. 200 He had been fined two weeks' wages for missing training.
6. In vague or indefinite use.
a. An indefinite period of time approximating to a week. a week or two: a moderate space of time, usually lasting between seven and fourteen days. a week or so: a moderate space of time, typically of seven days or slightly more.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > shortness or brevity in time > [noun] > a short or moderate space of time
weekeOE
littleOE
roomOE
stoundOE
startc1300
houra1350
furlong wayc1384
piecea1400
weea1400
speed whilec1400
hanlawhilea1500
snack1513
spirt?1550
snatch1563
fit1583
spurta1591
shortness1598
span1599
bit1653
thinking time1668
thinking-while1668
onwardling1674
way-bit1674
whilie1819
fillip1880
eOE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Tanner) iv. xxviii. 364 Of ðæm mynstre uteode oft onwalge wucan [L. ebdomade integra], hwilum twa oððe ðreo; swylce eac oft ealle monðe þæt he ham ne hwearf.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. vii. lviii. 414 Wiþ sixe wookes [L. septimanas] þat conteyneþ fourty dayes þe euel [sc. gout] is ful icured.
c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Franklin's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 587 But thurgh his magyk for a wyke or tweye It semed that alle the Rokkes were aweye.
c1422 T. Hoccleve Tale of Jerelaus (Durh.) in Minor Poems (1970) i. 174 My freend, aftir, I trowe, a wike or two That this tale endid was, hoom to me cam, And seide, [etc.].
1550 R. Crowley Way to Wealth sig. Avi How often hast thou gone whole dayes togither, whole weakes, yea whole yeres, and neuer thought once to loue hym aryght?
1568 ( D. Lindsay Satyre (Bannatyne) l. 1048 in Wks. (1931) II. 196 Than scho deit to, within ane olk or two.
1592 ‘C. Cony-Catcher’ Def. Conny-catching sig. B4 Hir husband to make a voyage from home, & to stay a weeke or two.
1623 H. Mandeville Let. 28 July in S. M. Kingsbury Recs. Virginia Company (1935) IV. 254 I..wilbe..in my country cottage fr a week or two.
1680 Don Tomazo 39 Coming to a Town call'd Dunfreize, upon the Borders of England, they concluded there to rest for a Week or so.
1718 J. Quincy Pharmacopœia Officinalis 362/1 Put all these together into Cong. iii. of Proof Sugar-Spirit, and let them stand a week or two, stirring the ingredients from time to time.
1786 J. Howard Let. 14 Mar. in R. Price Corr. (1994) III. 8 Your Phisicians who know nothing of the Climate send many Patients here, who die a few weeks after their arrival.
1884 Manch. Examiner 12 May 4/4 Payment is usually made a week or so after the goods have been delivered.
1974 Times 6 Sept. 1/4 Polling day was only a matter of weeks away.
1998 C. Worrall Grace xxi. 212 Alex might be able to put him up for a week or two, just while he gets sorted.
b. In plural. An indefinite period of time, lasting for or seeming to last for several weeks; (hyperbolically) a very long time, an age. Frequently reduplicated.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > [noun] > long duration or lasting through time > a long time
seven daysOE
a while1297
dreichc1440
dreightc1450
yearsa1470
age1577
week1597
montha1616
patriarch's age1693
length1697
eternity1700
a month of Sundays1759
a week of Sundays1822
a week of Saturdays1831
dog's age1833
forever1833
while1836
aeon1880
donkey's years1916
light year1929
yonks1968
1597 in J. Melvill's Autob. & Diary (Wodrow Soc.) 424 Alas! the mounths, alas! the wkes and dayes, That I consum'd in foolishe sports and plays.
1652 tr. N. Fonteyn Womans Doctour iv. viii. 242 Make an Injection, and wash the ulcerated part very often every day, till the paine cease, and the Ulcer be healed, though she continue the use thereof for weeks, months, and yeares.
1753 M. Mackenzie in Philos. Trans. 1751–2 (Royal Soc.) 47 385 To what purpose..keep ships in Sandgate-Creek for weeks, and even months, without landing and serening the goods?
1811 J. Austen Sense & Sensibility II. vii. 120 He did feel the same, Elinor—for weeks and weeks he felt it. I know he did. View more context for this quotation
1891 ‘J. S. Winter’ Lumley vi. 41 ‘Oh, Vere is not going for weeks—weeks,’ declared Mrs. Jock with great decision.
1900 ‘O. Agnus’ Jan Oxber (1902) iii. 77 Wiks and wiks I haven't zeen 'ee, my darlen.
1918 Times Lit. Suppl. 18 Apr. 183/2 The unbounded hospitality of a time when a few letters of introduction gave weeks of princely entertainment.
1979 Texas Monthly May 130/1 It had been weeks since she'd had her hair done properly.
2008 E. Cressey & M. Fitzgerald Maximum Strength Introd. p. xvii After weeks and weeks of working out using traditional bodybuilding methods, I might put on half a pound of muscle.
7.
a. A period of seven specified units of time.Record earliest in a week of days at Phrases 1a, a week of years at Phrases 1b.More established phrases of this type are treated at Phrases 1.
ΚΠ
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1959) Gen. xxix. 27 Fullfyll þe wike of days [L. ebdomadem dierum] of þis coupyll, & þis [sc. Rachel] forsoþe I schall ȝife to þe.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1961) Lev. xxv. 8 Þou shalt noun-bre [read noumbre] to þee seuene wokes of ȝeris [a1425 L.V. woukis of ȝeeris, L. ebdomades annorum].
1635 J. Bagwell Wilson's Christian Dict. (new ed.) at Week A weeke of weekes of years.
1724 T. Lewis Origines Hebrææ II. iv. xviii. 587 At the End of seven Weeks, or a Week of Weeks.
1807 J. Spalding Divine Theory I. ii. v. 227 The Hebrews observed a week of days, and a week of weeks.
1892 F. E. Tower Advancing Kingdom xvii. 339 The ‘seventy weeks’..from Artaxerxes' edict of restoration to the Messiah was just seven times the captivity period, or a week of decades of weeks of years.
1927 Catholic Hist. Rev. 13 161 A week of centuries equalling the seven deadly sins of thy enemy, shall be numbered unto thee.
1960 Chicago Sunday Tribune 18 Dec. c4/2 History..is very old and a week of days or a week of centuries passes.
2004 M. Lotker Christian's Guide to Judaism vii. 79 The holiday of Shavuot..begins fifty days (or a week of weeks plus a day) after Passover.
b. A period of seven years. Now rare.Originally and chiefly in allusion to the prophesies of the angel Gabriel in Daniel 9:24–27.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > period > year > [noun] > period of specific number of years
hendecadOE
a week of yearsa1382
weekc1384
Olympiada1387
lustre1387
yearc1425
millenary1551
prenticeship1553
septenary1576
lustrum1590
quinquennal1590
seventy1590
septimane1603
quinquennie1606
threescore (years) and tena1616
duodecad1621
quinquennium1621
jubilee1643
quadrenniala1646
chiliad1653
septennary1659
septennium1660
triennial1661
millennium1664
tetraëterid1678
octennial1679
duodenary1681
quadrennium1779
septenniad1836
quinquenniad1842
milliad1843
tricentenary1846
triennium1847
vicennium1847
bimillenary1850
lustration1853
sexennium1858
septennate1874
quinquennial1877
pentad1880
sexennate1898
aeon1960
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Dan. ix. 24 Seuenty weekis [a1425 L.V. Royal Seuenti woukis, ?a1425 L.V. Claud. gloss. here a wouke is nedis takun for a wouke of ȝeeris, and so ech wouk here conteyneth vij. ȝeer] ben abreggid on thi peple.
1482 W. Caxton tr. Higden's Prolicionycion iii. iii. f. cxvijv For Gabryel sayd seuenty short wekes be vpon thy people that be wekes sette not of dayes but of yeres.
1577 M. Hanmer tr. Bp. Eusebius in Aunc. Eccl. Hist. vi. vi. 101 Aboute this time there florished one Iude, who published comentaries vpon the 70 weekes of Daniel.
1605 J. Dove Confut. Atheisme 44 But these weekes are annuae hebdomadae, euery weeke is seauen yeares.
1787 B. Foster Diss. Seventy Weeks Daniel iii. 10 The Jews had special occasion to measure their time by weeks, or sevens of years.
1861 Evangelical Rev. Jan. 391 It is obvious that the terminus a quo of Daniel's weeks is the year 533 B.C.
1916 Amer. Catholic Q. Rev. Apr. 327 Daniel's weeks were now accomplished. It was time the Messiah..should appear.
2004 S. J. Grenz in B. D. Forbes & J. H. Kilde Rapture, Revelation, & End Times iv. 112 The seventieth prophetic week was delayed, ‘God's prophetic clock was stopped,’ and the church age began.

Phrases

P1. Noun phrases with of and another measure of time.
a. a week of days: a period of seven days, one week; (also occasionally) a full week, an entire week. [Originally (in quot. a13821) after post-classical Latin ebdomas dierum (Vulgate, Genesis 29:27); the Hebrew original of the translated passage has šāḇūaʿ week, period of seven days (see Shavuot n.) without further qualification.
In later use (in quots. 15601, 15602, and later) after Hebrew šāḇūaʿ yāmīm, lit. ‘week of days’ (Daniel 10:2 and 10:3, in šĕlōšāh šāḇuʿīm yāmīm three entire weeks, lit. ‘three weeks of days’; < šāḇuāʿ week + yāmīm , plural of yōm day: see Yom Kippur n.). Although Hebrew šāḇūaʿ usually means ‘period of seven days’, it is also attested five times in Daniel 9:24–27 in the extended sense ‘period of seven years’ (compare a week of years at Phrases 1b). Hence, yāmīm ‘days’ was added in Daniel 10:2 and 10:3 for the purposes of disambiguation (compare quots. 15601 and 2011).]
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > period > a week > [noun]
weekeOE
sennightOE
seven daysOE
weekOE
seven days and seven nightsOE
(an) eight daysc1160
a week of daysa1382
week1398
sennight dayc1425
septimane1450
seventh night1567
sennight space1599
hebdomad1600
septuary1646
heptad1876
a13821wike of days [see sense 7a].
1560 Bible (Geneva) Dan. x. 2 At the same time, I Daniel was in heauines for thre weekes of daies [a1382 days of three wekis].
1560 Bible (Geneva) Dan. x. 3 Til thre weekes of daies were fulfilled.
a1591 H. Smith Gods Arrowe (1593) ii. D 1 b This worde Hebdomada..is sometimes taken for a weeke of daies, that is, seauen daies... But at other times it signifieth the space of seauen yeares, and then is it called Hebdomada Annorum, A weeke of yeares.
1611 Bible (King James) Dan. x. 3 Three full weekes [margin, Heb. weeks of dayes] . View more context for this quotation]
1674 R. Fleming Faithfulness of God iii. 93 They know Daniels Seventy weeks..clearly takes in his [sc. the Messiah's] coming, and though it were taken either for weeks of days, or of years, it must be long since expired.
1725 B. Marshall Chronol. Treat. Seventy Weeks Daniel Introd. 9 Daniel here speaks of ordinary Weeks or Weeks of Days, and not of..prophetical Weeks, or Weeks of Years.
1819 W. Scott Bride of Lammermoor ix, in Tales of my Landlord 3rd Ser. I. 260 They dared not keep me a week of days in durance.
1876 tr. Keil & Delitzsch's Ezek. II. 336 A feast of heptads of days or weeks of days.
1918 Bible Rev. June 60 We pass on to find in the Levitical Law a week of weeks of days leading to a fiftieth day—a Pentecostal Sabbath.
2011 C. Ben Avraham Bk. Daniel Unsealed II. ii. 22 Daniel, knowing that confusion would arise in interpreting his fast, states that his fast was for three weeks of days, not three weeks of years!
b. a week of years: a period of seven years. [Originally (in quot. a13822) after post-classical Latin ebdomas annorum (Vulgate, Leviticus 25:8), rendering Hebrew šabbāṯ šānīm , lit. ‘sabbath of years’ (in šeḇaʿ šabbĕṯōṯ šānīm , lit. ‘seven sabbaths of years’, i.e. ‘seven times seven years’; < šabbāṯ sabbath n. + šānīm , plural of šānāh year: see Rosh Hashanah n.).
In later use, with reference to the prophecy in Daniel 9, ultimately rendering Hebrew šāḇūaʿ (see Shavuot n.) in its occasional extended sense ‘period of seven years’ (five times in Daniel 9:24–27; see a week of days); here, the Vulgate uses ebdomades ‘weeks’ without further qualification.]
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > period > year > [noun] > period of specific number of years
hendecadOE
a week of yearsa1382
weekc1384
Olympiada1387
lustre1387
yearc1425
millenary1551
prenticeship1553
septenary1576
lustrum1590
quinquennal1590
seventy1590
septimane1603
quinquennie1606
threescore (years) and tena1616
duodecad1621
quinquennium1621
jubilee1643
quadrenniala1646
chiliad1653
septennary1659
septennium1660
triennial1661
millennium1664
tetraëterid1678
octennial1679
duodenary1681
quadrennium1779
septenniad1836
quinquenniad1842
milliad1843
tricentenary1846
triennium1847
vicennium1847
bimillenary1850
lustration1853
sexennium1858
septennate1874
quinquennial1877
pentad1880
sexennate1898
aeon1960
a13822wokes of ȝeris [see sense 7a].
c1400 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Tiber.) f. 87 (MED) Þer buþ wokes yset noȝt of dawes bote of ȝerer so þt on woke conteyneþ seue ȝer.
?a1425 Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Claud.) (1850) Dan. ix. 24 Gloss. [a1425 L.V. Seuenti woukis, L. septuaginta ebdomades] Here a wouke is nedis takun for a wouke of ȝeeris, and so ech wouk here conteyneth vij ȝeer.
a1591 H. Smith Gods Arrowe (1593) ii. D 1 b This worde Hebdomada..is sometimes taken for a weeke of daies, that is, seauen daies... But at other times it signifieth the space of seauen yeares, and then is it called Hebdomada Annorum, A weeke of yeares.
1621 T. W. tr. S. Goulart Wise Vieillard 147 Doe wee not obserue how in three weeks of yeares three are dead?
1650 W. Sclater, Jr. in W. Sclater Expos. 4th Chapter Rom. Ep. Ded. sig. A2 Having now, (by the space of full three weeks of years, and more)..had a strong dispute with my thoughts, whether [etc.].
1674 R. Fleming Faithfulness of God iii. 93 They know Daniels Seventy weeks..clearly takes in his [sc. the Messiah's] coming, and though it were taken either for weeks of days, or of years, it must be long since expired, but if they should mean weeks of ages, then for many thousand years his coming could not be yet expected.
1725 B. Marshall Chronol. Treat. Seventy Weeks Daniel ii. iv. 242 I see not how Dr. Prideaux can argue from those Sabbaths of Years in Levit. xxv. 8, to the Weeks of Years in this Prophecy.
1791 Conjuror's Mag. Nov. 110/2 The former part of the week, calculated for Christ and his immediate personal household, was on the scale of a week of years.
1865 Jrnl. Royal Asiatic Soc. 1 161 The year B.C. 700, however, falls in the midst of a week of years, and was not sabbatical.
1903 Pacific 27 Aug. 2/1 If there were only ten true believers in the world, and each made one good convert a year, and the twenty did the same and so on, four weeks of years would convert the whole world.
2009 H. L. Patterson Thy Kingdom Come xxxi. 319 The seventy weeks are interpreted as weeks of years, which total four hundred and ninety years.
c. a week of Sundays: (colloquial) seven Sundays; seven weeks; (hence) a long or indefinite period of time. Often in negative contexts, esp. as not in a week of Sundays: never. Cf. a month of Sundays at Sunday n. and adv. Phrases 2b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > [noun] > long duration or lasting through time > a long time
seven daysOE
a while1297
dreichc1440
dreightc1450
yearsa1470
age1577
week1597
montha1616
patriarch's age1693
length1697
eternity1700
a month of Sundays1759
a week of Sundays1822
a week of Saturdays1831
dog's age1833
forever1833
while1836
aeon1880
donkey's years1916
light year1929
yonks1968
1822 B. Hofland Tales of Manor IV. iii. 66 But where ever have you been this week of Sundays?
1881 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Dec. 692/2 But Jack had declared that morning that he could not hit a ball in a week of Sundays.
1898 ‘C. Hare’ Broken Arcs i. ii. 13 Tes wark..never done, an' nar' a bit o' play for I,..no, not in a week o' Sundays.
1901 D. B. W. Sladen My Son Richard iv He..got to know her more intimately in that five minutes than he might otherwise have done in a week of Sundays.
2009 J. Greene Bombs & Lambs 55 Finally, after what seemed like a week of Sundays, Mummy said, ‘Yes, they'll have you’.
d. a week of Saturdays: (colloquial) seven Saturdays; seven weeks; (hence) a long or indefinite period of time. Often in negative contexts.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > [noun] > long duration or lasting through time > a long time
seven daysOE
a while1297
dreichc1440
dreightc1450
yearsa1470
age1577
week1597
montha1616
patriarch's age1693
length1697
eternity1700
a month of Sundays1759
a week of Sundays1822
a week of Saturdays1831
dog's age1833
forever1833
while1836
aeon1880
donkey's years1916
light year1929
yonks1968
1831 Constellation (N.Y.) 8 Jan. 57/3 No, you couldn't gess in a week of Saturdays and so I'll tell you—cause it is unginteel.
1921 Boys' Life June 13/1 In a week of Saturdays we couldn't hist the motor up the mountain.
2001 Chron.-Telegram (Elyria, Ohio) 26 Apr. (Special Advertising section) 8/1 For a week of Saturdays last fall, I climbed a ladder, and..cleaned every last bit of green and black from the porch.
†e. the week of the four Fridays: an imaginary date that will never arrive. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > frequency > infrequency > [noun] > time or date which never comes
Latter Lammas1559
nevermas?1562
the week of the four Fridays1766
Tib's Eve1785
nevermore1951
1766 H. Brooke Fool of Quality I. Ded. p. xxvi At the time that the hogs shall..feed along with the herrings;..or on the week of the four Fridays, so long looked for by astrologians.
P2. In expressions serving to specify a date or a time period.
a.
(a) Modified by a or a numeral, following a specified day, as this day two weeks, Saturday three weeks, yesterday a week, etc.: a number of weeks to the day, before or after the day specified.
ΚΠ
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 4019 Þe king lette blawen..& hehten heom alle..þas dæies æn þreom wiken [c1300 Otho þane dai a þreo wike] wenden to Lundene.
1454 in J. T. Gilbert Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889) I. 281 That al maner of men of Iryshe blode..avoyde [i.e. quit Dublin] by this day iiii. wekys. And gyff eny of this Iryssh blode..may be founde within the said cite or frauncheis after the said iiii. wekys day, they shall..be put in prisone.
1531 in I. S. Leadam Select Cases Star Chamber (1911) II. 187 The same Court so adiorned to be kepte ther that day thre wekes next ensuyng.
1707 R. Gardiner Instructor Clericalis (ed. 4) I. 21 Hillary Term beginneth..that day eight Weeks on which Michaelmas Term ended.
1781 Jrnls. House of Lords 36 332/1 Ordered, That the said Bill be read a Second Time on Tuesday Four Weeks.
1817 J. Austen Let. 25 Mar. (1995) 337 She expects much about this day three weeks, & is generally very exact.
1864 G. Knox Diary 20 May in R. C. McMurray Uncompromising Secessionist (2007) vii. 204 I have not had a change of clothing since yesterday two weeks.
1878 Evid. Case D. Donnelly 1877 353 I think last Saturday a week was the first time I was in his cell.
1914 Harper's Weekly 14 Feb. 25/2 I'll be home tomorrow two weeks. You come to dinner Sunday two weeks.
2001 B. Cullen It's Long Way from Penny Apples (2004) xxii. 251 Well, yourself and Paddy Walsh will present yourselves at this address in James's Street on Saturday two weeks.
(b) Following a specified day, as Monday week, this day week, tomorrow week, yesterday week, etc.: seven days before or after the day specified. Cf. earlier sennight n. Phrases a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > period > a week > [noun] > specific number of weeks
fortnighta1000
(a) fourteen night (rarely fourteen day)a1000
tresemayns1545
a warp of weeks1599
week1680
two-week1900
the world > time > period > a day or twenty-four hours > [phrase] > seven days before or after a specific day
week1680
1680 E. Hookes Due Order Law & Justice 42 Mary Duncon, to have been called into the Court of Sessions this day week.
1781 Scots Mag. June 303/2 Yesterday week, about four o'clock in the afternoon, Col. Delaney..marched from Morrissania.
1810 Sporting Mag. 36 160 The whole of the money must be made good that night week.
1831 Lincoln Herald 23 Sept. 4/4 Early on Monday morning week, an attempt was made [etc.].
1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days ii. vi. 339 The crisis came on Saturday, the day week that Thompson had died.
1889 ‘J. S. Winter’ Mrs. Bob i Let us say Thursday week, dear—This is Saturday, so it is quite enough notice to give.
1957 F. O'Connor Let. 19 May (1979) 220 Last Friday week I stood in a receiving line with your brother and sister-in-law for a good hour.
1990 Guardian 25 Sept. 15/1 Reilly..is due to announce his..squad tomorrow week.
2004 D. Peace GB 84 80 However, Monday week, there will also be a Union family rally in the town.
(c) Now chiefly British. Preceding a specified day and modified by a or a number, as a week yesterday, three weeks tomorrow, a week last Friday, etc.: a number of weeks to the day, before or after the day specified.
ΚΠ
1827 M. T. C. Gould Trial Twenty-four Journeymen Tailors 24 I think it took place on the 23d of August. I think four weeks yesterday.
1845 N.Y. Herald 30 Dec. 7/2 A week last Friday, a two horse wagon..stopped at Powers' tavern.
1883 Missionary Herald (Baptist Missionary Soc.) 1 Oct. 349 Only a week yesterday we put his earthly remains in the grave.
1922 U.S. Naval Med. Bull. 17 456 Two weeks yesterday I attended a meeting at Scott's pond.
1950 P. H. Newby Young May Moon vii. 167 It'll be three weeks tomorrow that you came to us.
1984 Times 6 Nov. 30/1 Ian Rush..rides again into Cardiff a week tomorrow but too late to rescue the Welsh national team.
2001 K. Muir Run for Freedom (2006) v. 110 There's a sale of pups three weeks tomorrow.
†b.
(a) Followed by the word day (day n. 18), in expressions with the sense ‘a period of a specified number of weeks; a number of weeks to the day’. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > period > a week > [noun]
weekeOE
sennightOE
seven daysOE
weekOE
seven days and seven nightsOE
(an) eight daysc1160
a week of daysa1382
week1398
sennight dayc1425
septimane1450
seventh night1567
sennight space1599
hebdomad1600
septuary1646
heptad1876
1398 in C. Innes Liber Sancte Marie de Melros (1837) 490 [Gif] defaut be of þir paymentis..ovre runnene ande ganeby sex wowkis daye eftir þe lymite terme.
a1450 Partonope of Blois (Univ. Coll. Oxf.) (1912) l. 6634 (MED) This lyfe they ledde vj wokes day.
1523 Earl of Surrey in State Papers Henry VIII (1836) IV. 55 Thies 5 wekes daye, I never slepte one hole houre withoute wakinge, my myende is soo troubled.
1573 W. Smith Wydow Edyth (new ed.) iii. sig. B.iij There she abode, full iocunde and mery. For the space fully of. vi. weekes day.
a1679 T. Hobbes Dialogue Common-laws Eng. 145 in Art of Rhetoric (1681) Which Statute alloweth to these Provisors six weeks Day to appear.
(b) In the genitive, followed by the word day: one week to the day; one week exactly. rare.
ΚΠ
1582 Sir J. Popham in H. Hall Society in Elizabethan Age (1886) 262 I mene if God please to be at Salisburie the wekes-daie at night before Easterdaie.
1897 E. W. Hamilton Outlaws of Marches xxix. 328 Why man, I'll warrant ye'll no be laid by for mair nor a week's day at the maist.
c. Monday (also Tuesday, yesterday, Christmas, etc.) was a week: see be v. Phrases 2b.
P3. In expressions serving to specify a pattern of recurrence.
a. from week to week: on each successive week, every week; continuously for a number of weeks. [Compare early modern Dutch van weke te weke (c1504; compare Dutch van week tot week ), German von Woche zu Woche (mid 16th cent.). Compare earlier from (also fro) day to day at day n. Phrases 2c and from year to year at year n. Phrases 2b] .
ΚΠ
?1570 T. Ingelend Disobedient Child sig. D.iiv And yet for all this, from weeke to weeke, For his stypende and wages he neuer cryeth.
1669 J. Dryden Wild Gallant i. 7 Sir, we'll come by our own as we can; if you put us off from week to week thus.
1748 W. Hardy Miner's Guide 19 He shall let one Nick upon the Spindle, and so from Week to Week he shall do the like.
1893 T. Fowler Hist. Corpus Christi Coll. 51 The Steward of the Hall was one of the graduate-Fellows appointed, from week to week, to assist the Bursars in the commisariat.
1923 National Geographic Mag. Jan. 5/1 From week to week one cannot detect the slightest cloud in the blue sky.
1959 Economist 12 Dec. 1090/1 Here the supplier takes responsibility for the stock and display from week to week.
2001 J. T. Hallinan Going up River xvii. 214 Her days off change from week to week.
b. week after week: for weeks in succession; on many successive occasions; repeatedly, across a number of weeks.
ΚΠ
1606 F. Johnson Inq. T. White his Discov. Brownisme 57 Divers dayes (week after week) being so imployed for the convincing of him in all: the Church did then excommunicate him.
1745 J. Wesley Farther Appeal 119 Who, Week after Week, spent the Lord's Day..in idle Diversions, and never troubled themselves about going to Church?
1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair (1848) xxxvii. 331 The pertinacity with which the washerwoman..brought..her bills week after week.
1968 Listener 4 Apr. 445/2 It was not practicable to print anecdotes week after week about Lord Blank's personality and foolish views.
2010 C. Brownfield My Nuclear Family vi. 79 Week after week, new sets of orders arrived on our captain's desk.
c. week and week about: in alternate weeks; (hence attributive) organized by arranging for things to occur in alternate weeks.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > period > a week > [adverb] > every specific number of weeks
week and week about1796
fortnightly1820
tri-weekly1837
1796 Rules & Orders Brotherhood Malsters Newcastle 11 Each of the Stewards..shall visit him or them so being sick week and week about.
a1835 D. Price Mem. Field Officer (1839) x. 200 For some time past four or five of us had continued to keep mess alternately, week and week about.
1891 R. Kipling Light that Failed vi. 94 The girls were supposed to market week and week about.
1919 C. R. Allen Instructor (ed. 6) xlii. 338 Classes are usually organized in such a way that a period of shop work alternates with a period of instruction in non-shop work. The two most common arrangements are: (1) the half day period, and (2) the week and week about period.
1996 M. Henry Young Children, Parents & Professionals 36 The children alternated, week and week about, their stints in these classes with their voluntary groups.
d. week in (and) week out: every week for an indefinite number of successive weeks; continuously. [Compare Dutch week in week uit , (also) week uit week in (18th cent. or earlier), German Woch' ein Woch' aus , wochein wochaus , (also) Woch' aus Woch' ein , wochaus wochein (mid 19th cent. or earlier, now nonstandard and rare); compare also day in (and) day out at day n. Phrases 3b, year in (and) year out at year n. Phrases 3a.]
ΚΠ
1815 Columbian Mag. Mar. 213/2 [They] take of their own accord more respite from labour, week in and week out, than the law exacts.
1888 Lend Hand Jan. 2 Twelve joiners..only received, in fact, 13s. a week, week in and week out.
1938 Dunkirk (N.Y.) Evening Observer 3 Dec. 17/5 Week in, week out, he's ‘steady’.
1960 J. Gunn Humpy in Hills x. 159 Smith and his friends used to hound Col, week in week out.
1995 E. Toman Dancing in Limbo vii. 168 Week in and week out he claimed his place on the studio sofa, and week in and week out he harangued the dwindling viewers.
2010 Economist 21 Aug. 37/1 This is a space that must be filled week in and week out this summer, come what may.
e. week-to-week: (attributive) (originally) arranged by the week; calculated in terms of a week; (now more usually) continuous for successive weeks; continual, without interruption.Cf. from week to week at Phrases 3a. [Compare earlier day-to-day adj. and year-to-year adj.]
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > [adjective] > long-lasting or enduring
longeOE
longsomeeOE
long of lifeOE
lastinga1225
cleaving1340
continualc1340
dwellingc1380
long-livinga1382
everlastingc1384
long-duringa1387
long-lasting?a1400
long-liveda1400
broadc1400
permanable?c1422
perseverant?a1425
permanentc1425
perdurable?a1439
continuedc1440
abiding1448
unremoved1455
eternalc1460
long-continued1464
continuing1526
long-enduring1527
enduring1532
immortal1538
diuturn?1541
veterated1547
resiant?1567
stayinga1568
well-wearinga1568
substantive1575
pertinacious1578
extant1581
ceaseless1590
marble1596
of length1597
longeval1598
diuturnal1599
nine-lived1600
chronic1601
unexhausted1602
chronical1604
endurable1607
continuant1610
indeflourishing1610
aged1611
indurant1611
continuatea1616
perennious1628
seculara1631
undiscontinueda1631
continuated1632
untransitory1632
long-spun1633
momently1641
stative1643
outliving1645
constant1653
long-descended1660
voluminousa1661
perduring1664
perdurant1671
livelong1673
perennial1676
longeve1678
consequential1681
unquenched1703
lifelong1746
momentary1755
inveterate1780
stabile1797
persistent1826
unpassing1831
all-time1846
year-long1846
teak-built1847
lengthful1855
long-term1867
long haul1873
sticky1879
week-to-week1879
perenduring1883
long-range1885
longish1889
long-time1902
long run1904
long-life1915
1879 Belfast News-let. 28 July 7/4 It was a week to week tenancy.
1918 Sundry Civil Bill 1919: Hearings before House Comm. on Appropriations (65th Congr. 2nd Sess.) 226 Department records of hour-to-hour, day-to-day, and week-to-week output..enable us to easily ascertain the individuals who are falling off in their production.
1928 Printers' Ink 18 Aug. 93/1 Nor can space as a commodity be generally sold or purchased economically on a week-to-week basis.
1959 New Statesman 24 Jan. 92/2 The lightning flashed above Sinai, and in its glare, the starry-eyed observer, remote from the week-to-week grind of party work, saw a great machine, whirring smoothly to life.
1981 J. Sutherland Bestsellers i. 15 The bestseller lists... Their week-to-week attention singles out sensational books of the moment.
2005 B. Romanowski Romo xii. 251 There were guys who could not maintain the level of intensity that I could on a week-to-week, game-to-game basis.
P4. Other phrases.
a.
Feast (also Festival, Solemnity, etc.) of Weeks n. Judaism (also with lower-case initials) = Shavuot n. Cf. Pentecost n. 1. [Ultimately after Hebrew ḥag šāḇūʿōṯ ( < ḥag festival + šāḇūʿōṯ : see Shavuot n.; (also) with prefixed definite article in the second element, ḥag haššāḇūʿōṯ).]
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > liturgical year > feast, festival > Jewish seasons and feasts > Harvest festival, Pentecost > [noun]
PentecostOE
Feast of Weeksa1382
Whitsuntidec1384
Shavuot1613
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1959) Exod. xxxiv. 22 Þe solempnyte of wekis [L. sollemnitatem ebdomadarum].
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 2 Macc. xii. 31 Thei..camen to Jerusalem, the solempne day of weekis [L. die sollemni septimanarum] neiȝinge.
1535 M. Coverdale Exod. xxxiv. 22 The feast of wekes. [So in 1611 and later editions.]
1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares f. 20 The feast of Tabernacles, the feast of sweet Bread, and the feast of Weekes.
1644 E. Arnold tr. D. Pareus Comm. Revelation 336 The first of their ripe fruits being then consecrated to God in the feast of weekes.
1683 N. Crouch Surprizing Miracles Nature & Art 14 In the Feast of weeks the Priests heard a man walking in the Temple.
1728 Ceremonies Present Jews 36 The fiftieth day of the Omer is their Feast of Weeks, so called because it is kept at the end of seven Weeks.
1787 D. Shaw Hist. & Philos. Judaism i. i. 117 The feast of weeks was another grand and solemn festival among the Jews.
1846 W. T. Wishart Series of Outl. No. 4. 105 The festival of weeks is specified as one of the stated solemn occasions—2 Chron. VIII. 12, 13.
1891 M. Friedländer Jewish Relig. 393 The Feast of Weeks, the 6th and 7th of Sivan, commemorates..an historical event: the Law-giving on Mount Sinai.
1916 Reform Advocate 10 June 665/1 I shall attend services at the Reform Temple where I am told confirmation exercises will add new impressiveness to the solemnities of the time-honoured Festival of Weeks.
2006 Y. Natan Moon-o-theism I. iv. 467 Shavuot is also called Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost, and occurs in the third month called Sivan.
†b. in by the week: caught, trapped, ensnared; deeply in love. Obsolete. [Probably with allusion to a prison term.]
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > amorous love > be in love [verb (intransitive)] > fall in love
to fall (or yfall, also be taken, caught) in loveOE
to yfall (also be brought) into love's danceOE
assot1393
in by the week1534
to have got it badly1860
to take a fall1942
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > snare, trap, entanglement > set a trap [verb (intransitive)] > be ensnared
in by the week1534
bite1752
gudgeon1785
1534 N. Udall Floures for Latine Spekynge gathered oute of Terence f. 2 Captus est. He is taken, Or, he is in the snare, or he is in the lashe. And prouerbially, he is in for a birde, or he is in by the weke.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. vii. sig. K This prouerbe shewth the in by the weeke.
a1556 N. Udall Ralph Roister Doister (?1566) i. ii. sig. A.iijv He is in by the weke, we shall haue sport anon.
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost v. ii. 61 O that I knew he were but in by th'weeke . View more context for this quotation
1612 J. Webster White Divel E 1 Enter Flamineo and Marcello guarded, and a Lawyer. Law. What are you in by the weeke.
†c. to go to it by the week: to commit oneself totally to an action. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > undertaking > undertake or set oneself to do [verb (intransitive)] > commit oneself
to go to it by the week1592
to take (also make) the plunge1702
1592 A. Day 2nd Pt. Eng. Secretorie sig. H2v, in Eng. Secretorie (rev. ed.) Yet now we be in, let vs goe to it by the weeke.
d. Chiefly humorous. too late a week: far too late, esp. in one's life. Now rare.In later use usually as an echo of Shakespeare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > a suitable time or opportunity > untimeliness > [phrase] > too late
(to come) a day after the fair1546
too late a weeka1616
a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) ii. iii. 75 At seauenteene yeeres, many their fortunes seeke But at fourescore, it is too late a weeke . View more context for this quotation
1798 Oracle & Daily Advertiser 28 Sept. Most of our antique Beaux..acknowledged with a sigh that, for them, it was ‘too late a week’.
1826 W. Scott Jrnl. 4 Feb. (1939) 89 If she had her youthful activity, and could manage it, it..would amuse her. But I fear it is too late a week.
1829 W. Scott Jrnl. 18 Jan. (1946) 6 A sensible, powerful mind[ed] person, had a[t] 28 (rather too late a week) taken up the art of sculpture.
1903 McGill Univ. Mag. Dec. 168 Now, it is decidedly ‘too late a week’ to change the Quebec Act and its consequences.
e. a week is a long time in ——: used to indicate that the specified enterprise is unpredictable and prone to rapid change. Now chiefly in a week is a long time in politics and variants, or with allusion to this.The phrase a week is a long time in politics is strongly associated with British Prime Minister Harold Wilson (1964–70, 1974–6), and especially with the 1964 sterling crisis (see N. Rees Sayings of the Century (1984)), but there appears to be no written evidence of his use of it at that time.
ΚΠ
1879 C. M. Yonge Magnum Bonum III. xxxv. 764 In the existing state of affairs, a week was a long time, and that very Sunday brought the crisis.]
1893 Romance July 453 A week is a long time in a newspaper office.
1962 G. Wolfskill Revolt of Conservatives 34 Shouse was reminded once more that in politics a week is a long time.
1966 New Politics 5 146/2 Harold Wilson has said, in another connection: ‘A week is a long time in politics.’ But many Labour men believe that if the tide is to be turned it will require the change of policy outlined above.
1983 Lethbridge (Alberta) Herald 31 Aug. c11/2 A week is a long time in politics, an expression of the idea that unexpected developments can transform political fortunes.
1997 Melody Maker 6 Dec. 7 A week is a long time in pop music and even longer on the world's most mad-for-it music weekly, where the zeitgeist can prove an elusive beast.
2011 Chron. (Austral.) (Nexis) 19 July (Final ed.) a36 With a week a long time in politics, think of what could happen between now and the tax taking effect on July 1, 2012.
f. —— of the week: designating a featured person or thing (often the most successful or favoured) of a specified kind for a given week; (now also) humorously designating the subject of a current trend. Cf. flavour of the month (or week) at flavour n. 3d.
ΚΠ
1906 Hamburg (Iowa) Reporter 16 Nov. 6/4 (heading) The recipe of the week.
1937 Life 16 Aug. 24 (caption) Strike picture of the week comes from Brooklyn, where a shipyard walkout..has dragged on since mid-June.
1960 Jet 10 Mar. 26 Salesman of the week... Jack Hall... tried to sell subscriptions to Collier's magazine, which went out of business several years ago.
1975 C. Hirschhorn Films James Mason 12/2 The film received splendid reviews.., scooping M.G.M.'s prestigious Marie Antoinette as the film of the week in The Times newspaper.
1986 Jewish Advocate 11 Dec. a9/3 Television has its disease of the week.
1995 M. Matalin & J. Carville All's Fair 256 Every Friday we named the Employee of the Week, who would get a gold star and a jar of barbecue sauce.
2010 Daily Tel. 4 Nov. 26/2 Random fact of the week: Lady Gaga takes up 10 petabytes of bandwidth on Google.
g. any day of the week: see day n. Phrases 9g. flavour of the week: see flavour n. 3d. to knock (a person) into the middle of next week: see knock v. 6f.

Compounds

† week-boy n. Obsolete a boy employed by the week, as distinguished from an apprentice.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to conditions > [noun] > hireling > hired by the week or year
week-boy1662
yearsman1834
1662 Act 14 Chas. II c. 5 §17 No Master Weaver..shall..sett on worke above two Apprentices or any weeke-Boy to weave in a Lombe in the said Trade in worsted weaving.
1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. Dict. 373 The Press-man sometimes has a Week-Boy to Take Sheets, as they are Printed off the Tympan.
week evening n. [compare earlier weeknight n.] a weekday evening; spec. (in early use) an evening of the week other than Sunday evening; (now usually) an evening of the working week; an evening other than Saturday or Sunday evening (sometimes also excluding Friday evening); frequently attributive.
ΚΠ
1792 T. Coke & H. Moore Life J. Wesley i. ii. 54 They read and considered the Greek Testament on the week evenings.
1812 Monthly Repository Jan. 57/2 I preached here [sc. Warrington] five times; was always well attended; even the week evening congregations were large.
1863 Earthen Vessel 246/1 246/1 There is also a Bible class conducted on a week-evening in the chapel.
1900 E. T. Fowler Farringdons viii. 141 It is our week-evening service.
2007 Enniscorthy (County Wexford) Guardian (Nexis) 29 Mar. The timing of this game for 5.30 p.m. on a week evening makes one wonder if the powers-that-be are really serious about promoting hurling.
week-long adj. that lasts for a week.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > period > a week > [adjective] > specific number of times a week
seven dayseOE
a-weekOE
weekly1403
hebdomadally1816
tri-weekly1832
week-long1847
1847 Ld. Lindsay Sketches Hist. Christian Art I. p. clxviii I lay at the feet of Jesus,..yoking down my struggling flesh with week-long fastings.
1898 Daily News 15 Sept. 6/4 The ladies, true to their week-long enthusiasm,..made the University College Theatre look very bright.
1983 J. Macy Despair & Personal Power i. 17 I chaired a weeklong seminar on planetary survival issues.
2007 Hindustan Times 28 May 4/4 A week-long exchange of accusations and blame games.
week-old adj. (attributive) designating a person, animal, or thing that is one week old; cf. old adj. 4b(a).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > age > [adjective] > specific age
seven?1440
yearing1451
year-old1556
yeared1583
seventy1590
two-year1596
quinquagenarian1603
septuagenary1605
twelvea1616
thirty1618
three-yearling1621
one-eared1645
quadragenarious1656
trimenstruous1656
septennian1662
sexagenarian1663
sexagenary1663
octogenarya1696
seven-year-old1713
quinquagenary1715
yearling1729
septuagesimal1781
septuagenarian1793
octogenarian1818
fortyish1821
seventeen-year-old1821
three-year-old1825
week-old1826
centenarian1828
day-old1831
70-year-old1832
quadragenarian1834
century-old1836
nonagenarian1877
teenaged1913
thirtyish1925
the world > time > period > a week > [adjective] > specific number of times a week > that has lasted a week
week-old1826
1826 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Nov. 658/2 The week-old fawn had left the doe's side but for a momentary race along the edge of the coppice.
1892 Lichfield Mercury 25 Mar. 8/5 If we obstinately shut our eyes and keep company with the hapless week-old kittens.
1903 R. Kipling Five Nations 115 Out of the darkness we reach For a handful of week-old papers And a mouthful of human speech.
1935 P. G. Wodehouse Luck of Bodkins xviii. 216 A certain brand of cigarette—one puff of which..will make a week-old corpse spring from its bier and dance the Carioca.
2002 J. Mercurio Bodies (2003) 195 A paediatrician killed a week-old baby because he flushed a tube with phenytoin that someone had left lying around.

Derivatives

† ˈweekmeal adv. [-meal suffix] Obsolete one week at a time; cf. piecemeal adv. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > period > a week > [adverb] > by weeks
weekmealc1175
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 554 To serrfenn wukemalumm.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 536 Drihhtin godd. To þewwtenn wuke malumm.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2014; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

weekint.

Brit. /wiːk/, U.S. /wik/
Forms: 1500s weeke, 1600s– week, 1700s weeck, 1800s weke.
Origin: An imitative or expressive formation.
Etymology: Imitative. Compare wheak v., whick v. Compare also later wee int. and queek int.
Representing a short high-pitched sound, esp. as made by a pig. Frequently reduplicated.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Rodentia or rodent > superfamily Myomorpha (mouse, rat, vole, or hamster) > [interjection] > squeak (of a mouse)
week1594
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > order Artiodactyla (cloven-hoofed animals) > pig > [interjection] > sound made by
wrough?1589
week1594
weea1842
1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus iv. ii. 145 Weeke, weeke, so cries a Pigge prepared to the spit. View more context for this quotation
a1632 J. Webster & W. Rowley Cure for Cuckold (1661) iv. sig. F2 My Sow cryes week as if she had Pigs in her belly.
1719 T. D'Urfey Wit & Mirth II. 87 Weeck, Weeck, Weeck, squeak'd the Pig.
1855 R. Browning Fra Lippo Lippi in Men & Women I. 35 Harry out..Whatever rat, there, haps on his wrong hole, And nip each softling of a wee white mouse, Weke, weke, that's crept to keep him company!
1913 E. M. Wright Rustic Speech & Folk-lore xviii. 309 This gurt pig zays, I wants meeat; T'other one zays, Where'll ye hay et? This one zays, In gramfer's barn; T'other one zays, Week! Week!
2011 C. Lewis Illustr. Guide to Pigs (Electronic ed.) Continuous week week week squeal. Here comes supper at last.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2014; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.eOEint.1594
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