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Mosques were known to the English-speaking world long before we called them mosques. In the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries, we used many different variations of the word—moseak, muskey, moschy, mos’keh, among others—until we finally hit on mosquee, emulating Middle French. The Middle French word had come by way of Italian and Old Spanish from the Arabic word for "temple," which is masjid. In the early 1700s, we settled on the present spelling, and mosque thus joined other English words related to Muslim worship: mihrab, for the special niche in a mosque that points towards Mecca; minaret, for the tall slender tower of a mosque; and muezzin, for the crier who, standing in the minaret, calls the hour of daily prayers.
Examples of mosque in a Sentence
Rania Abouzeid, The New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2024
In January 2023, Filion was extradited to Florida from California after having swatted a mosque months earlier in Sanford, Florida.
—Michael Kosnar, NBC News, 13 Nov. 2024
Like its namesake in Istanbul, it was converted into a mosque by the Ottomans and retains many of the handsome frescoes and floor mosaics created by the early Christians.
—Joe Yogerst, Forbes, 24 Oct. 2024
Getty Home to Africa’s oldest synagogue, more than 300 mosques, a Catholic church, and a thousand-year-old village bedecked in contemporary murals, Djerba is a delightfully unorthodox—and much needed—reminder that humans thrown together in splendid isolation can get things right.
—Megan Spurrell, Condé Nast Traveler, 12 Nov. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Mosque.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mosque. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.
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mosque
noun
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