<p><strong>周</strong> can be a <strong>lot of things</strong>, while <strong>星期</strong> can <strong>only</strong> mean a week.</p>

<p><strong>周</strong> has the meaning of a <strong>circle</strong> or <strong>circumference</strong>. One week is just like time running in a circle in 7 stages or 7 days. 周一 means first stage in that circle, or Monday. 周末 means last stage in that circle, or last day of the week, or Sunday. <strong>末</strong> means <strong>last</strong>。</p>

<p>To make things clear, <strong>周期</strong> means one <strong>cycle</strong>。</p>

<p>As I have said above, 周 can means a lot of things. For instance,  <strong>彬周</strong> literally means <strong>male penis</strong>。Thus, you should always use 星期 for a week if you are don't want to embarrass yourself because 星期 means only a week and nothing else.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-10-04T10:02:41.757Z
2016-10-04T10:07:46.857Z
2016-10-04T10:07:46.857Z
Atmega 328
<p>Dividing a year into 52 weeks was a new concept to Chinese people at the time. Since 星期(指七夕，就是牛郎织女鹊桥相会之日) a common term already existed in China,
<a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%98%9F%E6%9C%9F" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%98%9F%E6%9C%9F</a> it was then used to express a &quot;week&quot;.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>中國古代有七曜这一詞</p>
<p>*The Japanese still use 七曜 for the name of their days in a week - (日曜日, 月曜日, 火曜日 水曜日, 木曜日, 金曜日 and 土曜日)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Meanwhile, there was another common Chinese term 周天 (a circle of) <a href="http://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%91%A8%E5%A4%A9/909115" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%91%A8%E5%A4%A9/909115</a> therefore, 周 was also borrowed to describe  &quot;a week&quot;</p>
<p>As for practical usage,  周 and 星期 are interchangeable, but 周 is more formal and 星期 is more colloquial.</p>
<p>Also, the single syllable 周 doesn't take classifier, but 星期 does. We say 一星期 or 一個星期, but we only say 一周, not 一個周</p>
<p>both 周一 and 星期一 mean &quot;Monday&quot;, as mentioned before, and they are interchangeable, only 周一 is more formal and 星期一 is more colloquial</p>

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2016-10-04T10:17:33.437Z
Thanks! Your answer is also very helpful (especially the grammar note), but unfortunately I can only accept one.
MrVocabulary
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-02T12:21:05.877Z
For purposes of general interest, 大周天 & 小周天 has nothing to do with the days of the week but is a form of ancient Taoist Yoga where in 大周天 the "Qi" is circulated up through the spine passing the top of the skull and down the front of the body to the anus forming a 周, a "circle" and 小周天 is just circling around the head area only.
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-10-04T10:02:21.513Z
2016-11-25T13:25:15.110Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
Tang Ho
<p>there are no differences in meaning ， the only differences is where those words come from.</p>

<p>星期 and 礼拜 are originally from china, but 周 is barely a new word, that caused by western influences</p>

<p>for more information, you can read this article
<a href="http://www.zybang.com/question/46a3fe5084005470d13f83db003fc4ae.html?fr=iks&amp;word=%D6%DC%BA%CD%D0%C7%C6%DA+%B5%D8%B7%D6%B1%F0&amp;ie=gbk" rel="nofollow">http://www.zybang.com/question/46a3fe5084005470d13f83db003fc4ae.html?fr=iks&amp;word=%D6%DC%BA%CD%D0%C7%C6%DA+%B5%D8%B7%D6%B1%F0&amp;ie=gbk</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-10-04T10:21:35.573Z
礼拜 came from Christian term. Mass day is every Sunday (礼拜日/礼拜天) one week is 一個礼拜
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-10-04T09:54:15.370Z
2016-10-04T09:54:15.370Z
Richie Utama Oni
<p>From a dictionary lookup, it seems that both 周 and 星期 can mean "a week"—is there any difference in usage?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-10-04T09:28:53.117Z
A similar question had been asked http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/1023/whats-the-difference-between-%E6%98%9F%E6%9C%9Fx-and-%E5%91%A8x however, I do not think the accepted answer is quite complete.
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-08T12:28:07.133Z
I know I am unburying a question after over a month, but what's the proper Mandarin prounciation of 星期? Some Internet sources say xīng​qī, others xīngqí.
MrVocabulary
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-08T12:35:38.953Z
pinyin for 星期:  [*xing1 qi1* (PRC)] ; [*xing1 qi2* (Taiwan)]
Tang Ho
<meaning><difference><word><synonyms>
What's the difference between 周 and 星期?
# What's the difference between 周 and 星期?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-10-04)

From a dictionary lookup, it seems that both 周 and 星期 can mean "a week"—is there any difference in usage?

**Tags:** meaning, difference, word, synonyms

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: A similar question had been asked http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/1023/whats-the-difference-between-%E6%98%9F%E6%9C%9Fx-and-%E5%91%A8x however, I do not think the accepted answer is quite complete.  
> **username_0**: I know I am unburying a question after over a month, but what's the proper Mandarin prounciation of 星期? Some Internet sources say xīng​qī, others xīngqí.  
> **username_1**: pinyin for 星期:  [*xing1 qi1* (PRC)] ; [*xing1 qi2* (Taiwan)]  

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2016-10-04. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

**周** can be a **lot of things**, while **星期** can **only** mean a week.

**周** has the meaning of a **circle** or **circumference**. One week is just like time running in a circle in 7 stages or 7 days. 周一 means first stage in that circle, or Monday. 周末 means last stage in that circle, or last day of the week, or Sunday. **末** means **last**。

To make things clear, **周期** means one **cycle**。

As I have said above, 周 can means a lot of things. For instance, **彬周** literally means **male penis**。Thus, you should always use 星期 for a week if you are don't want to embarrass yourself because 星期 means only a week and nothing else.


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### Answer by username_1 on 2016-10-04. Score: 4

Dividing a year into 52 weeks was a new concept to Chinese people at the time. Since 星期(指七夕，就是牛郎织女鹊桥相会之日) a common term already existed in China,
<https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%98%9F%E6%9C%9F> it was then used to express a "week".

> 中國古代有七曜这一詞
>
> \*The Japanese still use 七曜 for the name of their days in a week - (日曜日, 月曜日, 火曜日 水曜日, 木曜日, 金曜日 and 土曜日)

Meanwhile, there was another common Chinese term 周天 (a circle of) <http://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%91%A8%E5%A4%A9/909115> therefore, 周 was also borrowed to describe "a week"

As for practical usage, 周 and 星期 are interchangeable, but 周 is more formal and 星期 is more colloquial.

Also, the single syllable 周 doesn't take classifier, but 星期 does. We say 一星期 or 一個星期, but we only say 一周, not 一個周

both 周一 and 星期一 mean "Monday", as mentioned before, and they are interchangeable, only 周一 is more formal and 星期一 is more colloquial

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks! Your answer is also very helpful (especially the grammar note), but unfortunately I can only accept one.  
> **username_3**: For purposes of general interest, 大周天 & 小周天 has nothing to do with the days of the week but is a form of ancient Taoist Yoga where in 大周天 the "Qi" is circulated up through the spine passing the top of the skull and down the front of the body to the anus forming a 周, a "circle" and 小周天 is just circling around the head area only.  

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### Answer by username_4 on 2016-10-04. Score: 2

there are no differences in meaning ， the only differences is where those words come from.

星期 and 礼拜 are originally from china, but 周 is barely a new word, that caused by western influences

for more information, you can read this article
<http://www.zybang.com/question/46a3fe5084005470d13f83db003fc4ae.html?fr=iks&word=%D6%DC%BA%CD%D0%C7%C6%DA+%B5%D8%B7%D6%B1%F0&ie=gbk>

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 礼拜 came from Christian term. Mass day is every Sunday (礼拜日/礼拜天) one week is 一個礼拜  

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