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

Many of the grander ones were converted into mosques by the Ottomans and museums in the early years of the Turkish republic.

From The Wall Street Journal

The Pontiff was seen bowing as he entered the building, but it is reported he did not pray at the mosque, as his two predecessors had done.

From BBC

It became a mosque under the Ottoman Empire and a museum under the Republic of Turkey.

From The Wall Street Journal

Returning from early morning prayers at a local mosque, "I noticed the street was flooded."

From Barron's

"She was a lady that never did harm. She was very peaceful and hard-working," said one mourner as family, friends and colleagues gathered for a big funeral at her local mosque.

From BBC

Related Words

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