mosque
Americannoun
-
mosques
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of mosque
1600–10; earlier mosquee < Middle French < Italian moschea ≪ Arabic masjid, derivative of sajada to worship, literally, prostrate oneself; the -ee seems to have been taken as diminutive suffix and dropped
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Explanation
The mosque is the traditional Muslim place of worship. Architecturally, it often features a minaret, or onion-shaped dome, on top. Mosque stems from the Arabic word masjid, meaning "temple" or "place of worship." This building is very important religiously and politically, and can be a modest structure or an architectural masterpiece, such as the Great Mosque of Córdoba in Spain. Muslims, or practitioners of Islam, come together here and pray in rows facing in the direction of the holy city of Mecca.
Vocabulary lists containing mosque
World Religions
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The Middle East and Central Asia - Introductory
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The Middle East and Central Asia - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Wasim still returns to the mosque to pray when he can, though guards sometimes turn him away.
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026
DEARBORN, Mich.—Abdul El-Sayed, Michigan’s Democratic nominee for Senate, stood before the faithful in a packed mosque that has anchored Muslim life in this Detroit suburb for close to a century.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
Rouhi Fattouh, president of the Palestinian National Council, described the arson attack on the mosque as "a barbaric act and a dangerous escalation in settler terrorism".
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
In others she stands outside a mosque while kids play with the bug’s feet and sits in an abandoned movie theater, her tail wrapped around the seats.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
A mosque honoring him is built on the highest point of the hill.
From "Tasting the Sky" by Ibtisam Barakat
Today, though, the 33-year-old historian finds a New York transformed: one with its first Muslim mayor, public prayers in Times Square and new mosques rising across the city.
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
Agents with their faces covered up to their eyes, in unmarked black SUVs with tinted windows, would wait outside churches, mosques, schools, daycares, courtrooms, and hospitals.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
Ms. Smith travels through Bosnia and Kosovo and sees how Mr. Erdoğan’s government has renovated mosques and opened Turkish-language schools there.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
Turkey's religious affairs directorate mentioned the stand-up show, without naming Göktaş, in its weekly sermon on Friday which is read out in all the country's mosques.
From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026
They had flown over its mosques, its bazaars.
From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
