The Meaning of kayoubi [火曜日] In Japanese
火曜日
かようび
Romaji: kayoubi
N5
What does 火曜日 mean?
Translation and Meaning
Fire day, Tuesday
Definition
火曜日 means Tuesday. It is the Japanese name for the weekday corresponding to Tuesday and is used to refer to that specific day in speech and writing.
Type
noun (temporal noun) — Japanese: 名詞 (meishi)
Stroke Order
Meanings
- 1. A cultural/astrological label tied to traditional East Asian element-planet correspondences, sometimes invoked in literature or historical contexts.
- 2. A motif in titles and media (e.g., a recurring weekly broadcast slot) where the day name identifies scheduling or theme.
- 3. A calendar-category in databases and forms distinguishing items set for the Tuesday slot.
Origin
The weekday names in Japanese derive from Chinese calendrical and astrological systems transmitted during the Asuka–Nara periods; these names were gradually adopted into everyday use and later standardized in modern Japanese calendars during the Meiji era.
Composition
- 火 (ka): ‘fire’ or flame, an elemental character.
- 曜 (yō): marker meaning ‘day of the week’ (literally related to shining/weekday).
Usage
Used across formal and casual registers to indicate the day of the week; when specifying a date in a sentence the particle (ni) typically marks the day, and the word appears in spoken scheduling, written timetables, business correspondence and digital calendar interfaces without change to its basic form.
💡 Tips
Mnemonic: link 火 (ka) with a bright red (fire) square on your planner—see that red square and say kayoubi to remember Tuesday.
Variations
- 火 (ka) — abbreviation meaning ‘Tue.’ commonly seen on compact calendars and timetables.
- 火曜 (kayou) — shortened form often used in casual written contexts or speech.
- 月曜日 (getsuyoubi) — Monday; adjacent weekday often mentioned for comparison.
