曜日

• Reading: ようび
• Romaji: youbi
• Kanji breakdown: 曜 (you) — day of the week, shine; 日 (bi/nichi) — day
• Pronunciation: /joː.bi/

Meaning

Day of the week. The name of a specific day within the seven-day week.

A noun and suffix used to refer to or ask about days of the week. The seven days use celestial bodies: 日曜日 (Sunday/sun), 月曜日 (Monday/moon), 火曜日 (Tuesday/Mars), 水曜日 (Wednesday/Mercury), 木曜日 (Thursday/Jupiter), 金曜日 (Friday/Venus), 土曜日 (Saturday/Saturn). Key question: 何曜日ですか (what day of the week is it?).

Examples

1. 何曜日が都合がいいですか。 What day of the week works best for you?
2. 毎週水曜日にピアノのレッスンがある。 I have a piano lesson every Wednesday.
3. カレンダーで曜日を確認した。 I checked the day of the week on the calendar.

Usage Guide

Context: daily life, scheduling, calendars

Tone: neutral

Origin & History

Composed of 曜 (you, day of the week/luminous) and 日 (bi/nichi, day). The seven-day week system was imported from China, which adopted it from Indian astronomy. Each day is named after celestial bodies.

Cultural Context

Era: Ancient

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal