A mosque is a building where Muslims gather to pray and worship. It often has a dome and one or more tall towers called minarets.
From French *mosquée*, from Italian *moschea*, from Spanish *mezquita*, which came from Arabic *masjid*, meaning “place of prostration (in prayer).” The Arabic root *s-j-d* is about bowing or prostrating in worship.
The original Arabic word for mosque doesn’t mean “church” or “temple”—it literally means a place where people bow down. That’s why you’ll see big open spaces and carpets: the architecture is built around synchronized movement. The word traveled through several European languages and got reshaped along the way.
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