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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
Matthew Carey, Deadline, 2 Dec. 2025
Rows of worshippers, some with their faces raised toward the sky, others with their heads bowed, prayed for rain at a mosque in Tehran earlier this month.
—Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 1 Dec. 2025
The board’s report described him as a community leader at his mosque and a Muslim religious scholar.
—Grant Stringer, Mercury News, 1 Dec. 2025
The Hagia Sophia, one of Christianity's most important places of worship for about a millennium, was made a mosque for 500 years after the fall of the Byzantine Empire.
—Reuters, NBC news, 29 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mosque
Cite this Entry
“Mosque.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mosque. Accessed 7 Dec. 2025.
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mosque
noun
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