Etymology
The name Tuesday derives from the Old English "Tiwesdæg" and literally means "Tiw's Day". Tiw is the Old English form of the Proto-Germanic god *Tîwaz, or Týr in Norse, a god of war and law.
The Latin name dies Martis ("day of Mars") is equivalent to the Greek ἡμέρα Ἄρεως. In most languages with Latin origins (French, Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Romanian, Gallician, Sardinian, Corsican, but not Portuguese), the day is named after Mars, the Roman god of war.
In some Slavic languages the word Tuesday originated from Old Church Slavonic word въторъ meaning "the second" (Serbian: уторак (utorak)). Bulgarian and Russian "Вторник" (Vtornik) is derived from the Bulgarian and Russian adjective for 'Second' - "Втори" (Vtori) or "Второй" (Vtoroi)
In Japanese, the word Tuesday is 火曜日(ka youbi), meaning 'fire day' and is associated with 火星 (kasei): Mars (the planet), literally meaning "fire star". Similarly, in Korean the word Tuesday is 화요일 (hwa yo il), also meaning fire day.
In the Indo-Aryan languages Pali and Sanskrit, as well as in Thailand, the name of the day is taken from Angaraka ('one who is red in colour') a style (manner of address) for Mangal, the god of war, and for Mars, the red planet.
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Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)