Masjid
/ˈmæs.dʒɪd/noun
A mosque; a place of Muslim prayer and prostration.
Did you know?Masjid comes from the Arabic root s-j-d, the same sacred root behind sujūd, the prostration in Islamic prayer, so the word itself encodes an act of embodied devotion.
Etymological Timeline
Classical Arabic
Arabic
masjid
“a place of prostration or prayer”
Proto-Semitic
PSem
*s-j-d
“to bow down, prostrate oneself”
Early Islamic Arabic
Arabic
masjid
“a mosque or designated place of worship”
Middle English
English
mescit / masgid
“a mosque, especially in travel writing and historical accounts”
Modern English
English
masjid
“a mosque, especially in Muslim contexts”