mosque

American  

[mosk, mawsk] / mɒsk, mɔsk /

noun

1. a Muslim temple or place of public worship.

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mosque British  

/ mɒsk /

noun

1. Also called: masjid.   musjid.  a Muslim place of worship, usually having one or more minarets and often decorated with elaborate tracery and texts from the Koran

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mosque Cultural  

1. A Muslim house of worship with at least one minaret, a tall, slender tower with balconies, used for calling the faithful to prayer.

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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

Compare meaning

How does mosque compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• masjid vs. mosque

Example Sentences

The charismatic cleric could lean on a vast network of mosques and charitable organizations to coordinate the popular mobilization.

From The Wall Street Journal

For Umaru Riskuwa, 59, the custodian of the mosque, Ramadan offers "those who take insurgency as their business" an opportunity to make "people feel peace in their heart".

From Barron's

An imam of a local mosque has also been arrested.

From BBC

Shortly after Sunday's performance concluded, the call to prayer could be heard from a local mosque.

From BBC

A senior police official told AFP, on condition of anonymity, that the explosion occurred after Friday prayers, when mosques around the country are packed with worshippers.

From Barron's

Related Words

• chapel
• church
• holy place
• house of worship
• place of worship
• sanctuary
• shrine
• synagogue