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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
Emma Tucker, CNN Money, 24 May 2026
Police in Lakeville, Minnesota, take into custody a male outside a mosque on May 22, 2026.
—Ray Campos, CBS News, 23 May 2026
The day after this photo was taken, a Hindu-nationalist mob destroyed the Babri Masjid, a 16th-century mosque, leading to a nationwide wave of riots that resulted in the murder of thousands of Indians, Muslim and Hindu.
—Taran Dugal, New Yorker, 23 May 2026
Caleb Vazquez, 18, along with Cain Clark, 17, drove to the mosque Monday morning with a plan for mass murder.
—Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 23 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for mosque
Cite this Entry
“Mosque.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mosque. Accessed 28 May. 2026.
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mosque
noun
