day

Meaning

1. The time when the Sun is above the horizon and it lights the sky.
2. A period of time equal or almost equal to a full day-night cycle.
3. A period of time equal or almost equal to a full day-night cycle.
4. A period of time equal or almost equal to a full day-night cycle.
5. (informal) A 24-hour period beginning at 6am or sunrise.
6. A period of time between two set times which mark the beginning and the end of day in a calendar, such as from midnight to the following midnight or (Judaism) from nightfall to the following nightfall.
7. The rotational period of a planet.
8. The part of a day period which one spends at one’s job, school, etc.
9. A specified time or period; time, considered with reference to the existence or prominence of a person or thing; age; time; era.
10. A period of contention of a day or less.
11. A period of confusion of a day or more.

Frequency

Pronounced as (IPA)

/deɪ/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English day, from Old English dæġ (“day”), from Proto-West Germanic *dag, from Proto-Germanic *dagaz (“day”); see there for more. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Dai (“day”), West Frisian dei (“day”), Dutch dag (“day”), German Low German Dag (“day”), Alemannic German Däi (“day”), German Tag (“day”), Swedish, Norwegian and Danish dag (“day”), Icelandic dagur (“day”), Gothic 𐌳𐌰𐌲𐍃 (dags, “day”). Possible cognates beyond Germanic relatives include Albanian djeg (“to burn”), Lithuanian degti (“to burn”), Tocharian A tsäk-, Russian жечь (žečʹ, “to burn”) from *degti, дёготь (djógotʹ, “tar, pitch”), Sanskrit दाह (dāhá, “heat”), दहति (dáhati, “to burn”), Latin foveō (“to warm, keep warm, incubate”). Latin diēs is a false cognate; it derives from Proto-Indo-European *dyew- (“to shine”).