Al-Mawsil
/alˈmaw.sˤil/noun
An Arabic historical name for the city now commonly known in English as Mosul, Iraq.
Did you know?Al-Mawṣil comes from the Arabic root waṣala, “to join or connect,” reflecting Mosul’s historic position as a major crossing and commercial link along the Tigris.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
Proto-Semitic
*waṣal-
“To join, connect, or reach”
Classical Arabic
Arabic
waṣala
“He joined, connected, or arrived”
Classical Arabic
Arabic
mawṣil
“A place of connection, junction, or meeting”
9th–10th Century
Arabic
al-Mawṣil
““The connecting point”; the Arabic name of the city on the Tigris”
Ottoman Period
Ottoman Turkish
Musul
“The city-name adapted into Ottoman Turkish”
Modern English
English
Mosul
“The conventional English form of Al-Mawsil”