Wednesday is the third day of the week in most western countries and the fourth day of the week in the Christian calendar, between Tuesday and Thursday. The name comes from the Middle English Wednes dei, which is from Old English Wēdnes dæg, meaning the day of the Germanic god Woden (Wodan) who was a god of the Anglo-Saxons in England until about the 7th century. Wēdnes dæg is like the Old Norse Oðinsdagr ("Odin's day"), which is an early translation of the Latin dies Mercurii ("Mercury's day"), though Mercury (the messenger of the gods) and Woden (the king of the Germanic gods) are not equivalent in most regards.
When Sunday is taken as the first of the week, the day in the middle of each week is Wednesday. Arising from this, the German name for Wednesday has been Mittwoch (literally: "mid-week") since the 10th Century, having displaced the former name: Wodanstag ("Wodan's day"). The Finnish name is similar: Keskiviikko (literally: "middle of the week") as is the Icelandic name: Miðvikudagur ("Mid-week day").
According to the Hebrew Bible, Wednesday is the day when the Sun and Moon were created.
Wednesday is also in the middle of the common Western 5-day working week that starts on Monday and finishes on Friday.
In Romance languages it is derived from the name of the Roman god Mercury: mercredi (French), mercoledì (Italian), miércoles (Spanish), miercuri (Romanian), dimecres (Catalan), dies Mercurii (Latin). Similarly, in most of the Indian Languages the name for Wednesday, Buddhavar is derived from the Vedic name for Mercury, Buddha. Buddha is also used in Urdu as well. Russian does not use pagan names but instead uses sredá, meaning "middle," similar to the German Mittwoch. Likewise, Portuguese uses the word quarta-feira, meaning "fourth day."
An English language idiom for Wednesday is "hump day", a reference to making it through to the middle of the work week as getting "over the hump."
In the folk rhyme, "Wednesday's child is full of woe". In another rhyme reciting the days of the week, Solomon Grundy was 'Married on Wednesday.' In Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, the disagreeable nature of the weather is attributed to it being "Winds-Day" (a play on "Wednesday").
Wednesday is used as a character's first or last name in several narrative works, including Thursday's fictions by Richard James Allen, Neil Gaiman's novel American Gods, and the 60's television show, The Addams Family.
A song titled "Wednesday's Song" is on the 2004 album Shadows Collide with People by John Frusciante, and "Wednesday" is the title of a song on musician Tori Amos' "Scarlet's Walk" album.
