# week

> English word · Noun · IPA /wiːk/ · frequency rank #251

## Definitions
1. Any period of seven consecutive days.
2. A period of seven days beginning with Sunday or Monday.
3. A period of five days beginning with Monday.
4. A subdivision of the month into longer periods of work days punctuated by shorter weekend periods of days for markets, rest, or religious observation such as a sabbath.
5. A date seven days after (sometimes before) the specified day.

## Etymology
From Middle English wyke, weke, from Old English wiċe, wucu (“week”), from Proto-West Germanic *wikā, from Proto-Germanic *wikǭ (“sequence; week”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyg-, *weyk- (“to bend, curve”). Related to Proto-Germanic *wīkaną (“to bend, yield, cease”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots ouk, oulk (“week”), Yola wick, wik (“week”), North Frisian waag, Week, weg (“week”), Saterland Frisian Wiek, Wíek (“week”), West Frisian wike (“week”), Bavarian Wochn (“week”), Cimbrian boch, bòcha (“week”), Dutch week (“week”), German Woche (“week”), German Low German Week (“week”), Limburgish waek, Wéëk (“week”), Luxembourgish Woch (“week”), Mòcheno boch (“week”), Vilamovian woch (“week”), Yiddish וואָך (vokh, “week”), Danish uge (“week”), Elfdalian wiku, wikå (“week”), Faroese and Icelandic vika (“week”), Jamtish vuku (“week”), Norwegian Bokmål uke (“week”), Norwegian Nynorsk veke, vika, viku, vukku, vuku (“week”), Scanian uga (“week”), Swedish vecka (“week”), Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌺𐍉 (wikō, “sequence; week”); also Cornish gwigh (“periwinkles, whelks”), Irish faocha, faochóg (“periwinkle”), Latin vicis (“alteration, turn; time”), Ancient Greek εἴκω (eíkō, “to yield”), Albanian vig (“bier, litter, stretcher”), Northern Kurdish avêtin, avitin, avîtin, havêtin, havîtin (“to cast, hurl, throw”), Persian آویختَن (âvixtan, “to hang, suspend”), بیختن (bēxtan / bixtan, “to sieve, sift”). Related also to Old English wīcan (“to yield, give way”), English weak and wick.

## Easily confused with
- **wet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/week-vs-wet)
- **WWE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/week-vs-wwe)
- **Wes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/week-vs-wes)
- **wen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/week-vs-wen)
- **Wei** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/week-vs-wei)
- **woe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/week-vs-woe)
- **Wie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/week-vs-wie)
- **wer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/week-vs-wer)
- **wok** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/week-vs-wok)
- **wye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/week-vs-wye)
- **when** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/week-vs-when)
- **were** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/week-vs-were)
- **well** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/week-vs-well)
- **work** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/week-vs-work)
- **went** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/week-vs-went)
- **west** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/week-vs-west)
- **weir** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/week-vs-weir)
- **wink** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/week-vs-wink)
- **weep** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/week-vs-weep)
- **woes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/week-vs-woes)

## Common misspellings (5)
`ewek`, `weekk`, `wek`, `weke`, `wweek`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/week