Sunday

Sunday is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. Sunday is a day of rest in most Western countries and a part of the weekend. In some Eastern countries such as Israel Sunday is a weekday. For most Christians, Sunday is observed as a day of worship and rest, holding it as the Lord's Day and the day of Christ's resurrection; in the United States, Canada, China, Japan, as well as in South America, Sunday is the first day of the week. According to the Hebrew calendar and traditional calendars (including Christian calendars) Sunday is the first day of the week; Quaker Christians call Sunday the "first day" in accordance with their testimony of simplicity. The International Organization for Standardization ISO 8601, which is based in Switzerland, calls Sunday the seventh day of the week. Etymology The name "Sunday", the day of the Sun, is derived from Hellenistic astrology, where the seven planets, known in English as Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury and the Moon, each had an hour of the day assigned to them, and the planet which was regent during the first hour of any day of the week gave its name to that day. During the 1st and 2nd centuries, the week of seven days was introduced into Rome from Egypt, and the Roman names of the planets were given to each successive day.