means The two days at the end of the week — typically Saturday and Sunday — set aside from work for rest and leisure.

from A transparent compound of "week" and "end," first recorded in English in the late 19th century. The word grew up alongside the thing itself: as industrial labor patterns shifted and Saturday afternoons (then full Saturdays) were freed from work, a name was needed for that protected stretch of time. "Week" descends from Old English "wice"; "end" from Old English "ende" — both ancient Germanic words, here yoked together to mark the boundary where the working week stops.