The word 星期六 (xīngqīliù), meaning "Saturday", is formed by combining three characters: 星 (xīng), which originally means "star" or "celestial body"; 期 (qī), meaning "period" or "cycle"; and 六 (liù), the number six. It is a direct calque, or loan translation, of the Western seven-day week system, where "Saturday" is literally the "day of Saturn". In this construction, 星期 represents the concept of a "week" (originally a "star cycle"), and 六 denotes its sequential position as the sixth day in that standardized cycle.