mosque
Americannoun
noun
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.
And it leaves out so much: the English and Irish who built East London; the docks that made East London an early “melting pot”; unique aspects of postwar reconstruction such as the East London Mosque.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 2, 2026
"In the history of the occupation, this is the longest period during which the Al-Aqsa Mosque has been closed."
From Barron's • Mar. 20, 2026
AFP journalists at the scene saw the damage just a few hundred metres from Jerusalem's revered holy sites of Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Western Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
From Barron's • Mar. 20, 2026
At the latter, now called the Kariye Mosque, Muslim worshipers kneeling on the carpeted floor and praying toward Mecca are flanked by 14th-century mosaics of the Virgin Mary and Jesus.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 1, 2025
The last time I had seen Reginald, one day he walked into the Mosque Seven restaurant.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
Definitions 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.
