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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
Kathryn Watson, CBS News, 31 May 2024
Few have been as overtly assertive on those fronts as the Dutch populist firebrand Geert Wilders, who has advocated leaving the EU altogether, along with banning the Koran and outlawing mosques.
—Ned Temko, The Christian Science Monitor, 30 May 2024
In 1992, a Hindu mob demolished a centuries-old mosque there, claiming that the site had previously held a Hindu temple.
—Sameer Yasir, New York Times, 28 May 2024
But Williams said the mosque hadn’t fully signaled its presence until its most recent building project.
—Jonathan M. Pitts, Baltimore Sun, 24 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for mosque 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mosque.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Mosque.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mosque. Accessed 10 Jun. 2024.
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mosque
noun
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