Etymology

The Arabic masjid means a place of worship and is a noun of place from the verb sajada (root "s-j-d," meaning "to bow" or "to kneel") in reference to the prostrations performed during Islamic prayers. Either the word masjid itself or at least the verb from which it is derived was borrowed from Aramaic. The word "m-s-g-d" is attested in Aramaic as early as the 5th century BCE, and the same word is later found in Nabataean inscriptions with the meaning "place of worship"; apparently, this Aramaic word originally meant "stele" or "sacred pillar". The same root exists also in Hebrew,(ס-ג-ד), meaning "to worship".

The modern-day English word "mosque", just like its equivalents in many other European languages, derives from the word masjid via Spanish mezquita. The pre-cursors of the word "mosque" appeared during the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries and "Moseak", "muskey", "moschy", and "mos'keh" were just some of the variations that came into use until it was decided that "mosquee", imitating Middle French, Italian, and Old Spanish, would become the standard. In the early 18th century, the modern spelling became the most popular and standard spelling of the word.