A weekend is the two-day break from school and work that most people enjoy at the end of each week, typically Saturday and Sunday. The weekend gives families time to rest, play, catch up on chores, or pursue hobbies they don't have time for during busy weekdays.

The concept of the weekend is surprisingly modern. For most of human history, people worked six or even seven days a week. The idea of a regular two-day break only became common in the early 1900s, when factory workers and labor unions fought for shorter work weeks. Before that, many people only had Sundays off, if that.

Today, the weekend shapes how we think about time. People often count down to the weekend during the work week, and Sunday evening brings that familiar feeling of the weekend winding down. Some languages don't even have a single word for this concept because the two-day break isn't universal. In some countries, the weekend falls on different days, like Friday and Saturday.

When someone talks about weekend plans, they mean what they'll do during this special break. And if you spend the weekend at your grandmother's house, you're staying there Saturday and Sunday.