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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
Christian Orozco, NBC news, 13 Nov. 2025
Israeli settlers torched a mosque and sprayed it with graffiti in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, according to Palestinian authorities, the latest in a surge of increasingly brazen settler attacks against Palestinians.
—Zeena Saifi, CNN Money, 13 Nov. 2025
Pastor Nyya Toussaint, an associate pastor at First Church Miami, spoke about how many Christians can be hesitant to explore other faith traditions, such as visiting a mosque or partaking in a Gede ceremony.
—Miami Herald, 12 Nov. 2025
The central square is commanded by the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque, and the streets hold other imperial Ottoman-era mosques, Byzantine cisterns, and the remains of a hippodrome.
—Katie Nadworny, Travel + Leisure, 8 Nov. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Mosque.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mosque. Accessed 17 Nov. 2025.
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mosque
noun
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