The word **礼拜天** (lǐbàitiān), meaning "Sunday," is formed through a compound of two distinct elements: **礼拜** (lǐbài), which translates to "religious worship" or "church service," derived from Christian missionary usage to mean "week," and **天** (tiān), meaning "day." Thus, the term literally constructs the concept as "worship day" or "day of religious service," directly reflecting its historical origin as the Christian Sabbath. Over time, its usage has become largely secular in modern Mandarin, simply denoting the first day of the week, while still retaining the cultural and etymological footprint of its religious roots.