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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
John Tuohy, IndyStar, 23 July 2025
And his government constructed a temple to Ram on the site of a former mosque in Ayodhya, the mythical birthplace of the eponymous hero of a Hindu epic.
—Hartosh Singh Bal, Foreign Affairs, 30 June 2025
State television reported that metro stations and mosques would be made available as bomb shelters beginning Sunday night.
—Jon Gambrell, Chicago Tribune, 15 June 2025
Birds fly around the minaret of the Ali bin Ali mosque at the start of the Eid al-Fitr which marks the end of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, in Doha on March 30, 2025.
—Amira El-Fekki, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 June 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 6 Aug. 2025.
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mosque
noun
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