مسجد

Arabic

Etymology

Noun of place from the verb سَجَدَ (sajada, “to bow down”), from the root س ج د (s j d). Likely borrowed from a regional Aramaic term for a place of worship, attested in Nabataean Aramaic 𐢓𐢖𐢄𐢅𐢀 (msgdʾ) and in Imperial Aramaic 𐡌𐡎𐡂𐡃𐡀 (msgdʾ) already in the 5th century BCE, the emphatic state of which seems to underlie some of the Romance descendants.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mas.d͡ʒid/

• Audio (Modern Standard Arabic):

  (file)

  • (Hijazi) IPA^(key): [mas.d͡ʒɪd], [mas.ʒɪd]

Noun

مَسْجِد • (masjid) m (plural مَسَاجِد (masājid))

1. (Islam) mosque

   مَسْجِد جَامِع ― masjid jāmiʕ ― central mosque, great mosque

Declension

Declension of noun مَسْجِد (masjid)

singular	basic singular triptote
	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	مَسْجِد masjid	الْمَسْجِد al-masjid	مَسْجِد masjid
nominative	مَسْجِدٌ masjidun	الْمَسْجِدُ al-masjidu	مَسْجِدُ masjidu
accusative	مَسْجِدًا masjidan	الْمَسْجِدَ al-masjida	مَسْجِدَ masjida
genitive	مَسْجِدٍ masjidin	الْمَسْجِدِ al-masjidi	مَسْجِدِ masjidi
dual	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	مَسْجِدَيْن masjidayn	الْمَسْجِدَيْن al-masjidayn	مَسْجِدَيْ masjiday
nominative	مَسْجِدَانِ masjidāni	الْمَسْجِدَانِ al-masjidāni	مَسْجِدَا masjidā
accusative	مَسْجِدَيْنِ masjidayni	الْمَسْجِدَيْنِ al-masjidayni	مَسْجِدَيْ masjiday
genitive	مَسْجِدَيْنِ masjidayni	الْمَسْجِدَيْنِ al-masjidayni	مَسْجِدَيْ masjiday
plural	basic broken plural diptote
	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	مَسَاجِد masājid	الْمَسَاجِد al-masājid	مَسَاجِد masājid
nominative	مَسَاجِدُ masājidu	الْمَسَاجِدُ al-masājidu	مَسَاجِدُ masājidu
accusative	مَسَاجِدَ masājida	الْمَسَاجِدَ al-masājida	مَسَاجِدَ masājida
genitive	مَسَاجِدَ masājida	الْمَسَاجِدِ al-masājidi	مَسَاجِدِ masājidi

Derived terms

• الْمَسْجِد الْحَرَام (al-masjid al-ḥarām, “The Sacred Mosque”)
• الْمَسْجِد النَّبَوِيّ (al-masjid an-nabawiyy, “The Prophet's Mosque”)
• الْمَسْجِد الْأَقْصَى (al-masjid al-ʔaqṣā, “The Furthest Mosque, Al-Aqsa Mosque”)
• الْمَسْجِدَان (al-masjidān, “the Two Mosques (of Mecca and Medina)”)

Descendants

Descendants

• Gulf Arabic: مسيد (masyid)
• → Amharic: መስጊድ (mäsgid)
• → Ancient Greek: μασγίδιον (masgídion)
• → Central Kurdish: مزگەوت (mizgewt), مِزگِت (mizgit) — Ardalani
• → Classical Persian: مَسْجِد (masjid) (see there for further descendants)
• → Classical Syriac: ܡܣܓܕܐ (masgḏā)
• → Dutch: mesdjid
• → English: masjid
• → Hebrew: מִסְגָּד (misgā́d) (calque)
• → Japanese: マスジド
• → Javanese: masjid, mesjid
• → Kimaragang: mosigid
• → Malay: masjid, misigit
  • Indonesian: masjid
• → Medieval Latin: meschita (see there for further descendants)
• → Middle Persian: [script needed] (mzgt' /⁠mazgit⁠/)
  • Early New Persian: مَزْگِت (mazgit) (see there for further descendants)
• → Northern Kurdish: mizgeft
• → Ottoman Turkish: مسجد (mescid) (see there for further descendants)
• → Portuguese: Magide
• → Sindhi: مِهِتِ / मिहिति (mihiti)
• → Sundanese: masigit
• → Swahili: msikiti (see there for further descendants)
• → Thai: มัสยิด (mát-sà-yít)

See also

• جَامِع (jāmiʕ)

References

• “msgd”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
• Schwally, Friedrich (1898), “Lexikalische Studien”, in Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft‎^[1] (in German), volume 52, page 134
• Wehr, Hans (1979), “سجد”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN

Hijazi Arabic

Root
س ج د
1 term

Etymology

From Arabic مَسْجِد (masjid).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mas.d͡ʒid/, [mas.d͡ʒɪd]

Noun

مسجد • (masjid) m (plural مَساجد (masājid))

1. mosque

   Synonym: (mosque that hosts Friday prayer; usually a bigger mosque) جامِع (jāmiʕ)

Malay

Noun

مسجد (plural مسجد-مسجد or مسجد٢)

1. Jawi spelling of masjid.‎

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic مَسْجِد (masjid, “mosque”), noun of place from the verb سَجَدَ (sajada, “to bow down”).

Noun

مسجد • (mescid) (definite accusative مسجدی (mescidi), plural مساجد (mesâcid))

1. mosque, a place of worship for Muslims, often having at least one minaret

   Synonym: جامع (camiʼ)

Descendants

• Turkish: mescit
• → Hungarian: mecset
• → Romanian: mecet

Further reading

• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007), “mescit”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 1, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 3161
• Devellioğlu, Ferit (1962), “mescid”, in Osmanlıca-Türkçe Ansiklopedik Lûgat‎‎^[2] (in Turkish), Istanbul: Türk Dil Kurumu, page 747
• Kélékian, Diran (1911), “مسجد”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎^[3] (in French), Constantinople: Mihran, page 1165
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1687), “Templum”, in Complementum thesauri linguarum orientalium, seu onomasticum latino-turcico-arabico-persicum, simul idem index verborum lexici turcico-arabico-persici, quod latinâ, germanicâ, aliarumque linguarum adjectâ nomenclatione nuper in lucem editum‎^[4], Vienna, column 1655
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1680), “مسجد”, in Thesaurus linguarum orientalium, Turcicae, Arabicae, Persicae, praecipuas earum opes à Turcis peculiariter usurpatas continens, nimirum Lexicon Turkico-Arabico-Persicum‎^[5], Vienna, column 4643
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–), “mescit”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Redhouse, James W. (1890), “مسجد”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎^[6], Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 1851

Persian

Alternative forms

• مزگت (mazgit / mazget) (Early New Persian, obsolete)
• مچد (maččed) (dialectal, Hamadan, Isfahan)
• مجد (majjed) (dialectal)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Arabic سَجَدَ (sajada)

Arabic مَسْجِد (masjid)bor.

Persian مسجد

Borrowed from Arabic مَسْجِد (masjid).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /mas.ˈd͡ʒid/

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [mäs.d͡ʒɪ́d̪]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [mäs.d͡ʒɪ́d̪]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [mäs.d͡ʒɪ́d̪]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [mäs.d͡ʒíd̪̥]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [mæs.d͡ʒéd̪̥]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [mäs.d͡ʒíd̪]

Readings
Classical reading?	masjid
Dari reading?	masjid
Iranian reading?	masjed
Tajik reading?	masjid

Noun

مسجد • (masjid / masjed) (plural مساجد (masājid / masâjed), or مسجدها (masjid-hā / masjed-hâ), Tajik spelling масҷид)

1. mosque

Descendants

• → Assamese: মছজিদ (mosozid)
• → Azerbaijani: məscid
• → Bengali: মসজিদ (mosjid)
• → Chagatai: مسجد (mäsjid)
  • Uyghur: مەسچىد (meschid)
  • Uzbek: masjid
• → Gujarati: મસ્જિદ (masjid)
• → Magahi: महजिद / 𑂧𑂯𑂔𑂱𑂠 (mahᵊjid)
• → Marathi: मस्जिद (masjid)
• → Middle Hindi: مسجد (msjd)
  • Hindustani: (see there for further descendants)

    Hindi: मस्जिद (masjid)

    Urdu: مَسْجِد (masjid)

• → Northern Kurdish: mescîd
• → Old Gujarati: मसीत (masīta) (see there for further descendants)
• → Old Hindi: मसीति (masīti) (see there for further descendants)
• → Old Marathi: मसिति / 𑘦𑘭𑘲𑘝𑘲 (masiti) (see there for further descendants)
• → Old Punjabi: مَسِیت (masīti) (see there for further descendants)
• → Punjabi: ਮਸਜਿਦ / مَسْجِد (masjid)
• → Sindhi: مَسْجِدِ / मस्जिदि (masjidi), مَسِيتِ / मसीति (masīti)
• → Sylheti: ꠝꠍꠤꠖ (mosído)
• → Turkmen: metjit

From Early New Persian مَزْگِت (mazgit)

• → Avar: мажгит (mažgit)
• → Bashkir: мәсет (məset)
• → Chechen: маьждиг (mäždig)
• → Crimean Tatar: mescit
• → Dargwa: мижит (mižit)
• → Georgian: მეჩეთი (mečeti)
• → Lak: мизит (mizit)
• → Ingush: маьждиг (mäždig)
• → Kazakh: мешіт (meşıt)
• → Nogai: мешит (meşit)
• → Northern Kurdish: mizgeft
  • → Lishana Deni: מזגפת (məzgaft(e))
• → Old Armenian: մզկիթ (mzkitʻ) (see there for further descendants)
• → Old Marathi: 𑘦𑘲𑘕𑘲𑘐𑘲𑘝𑘲 (mījīgītī)
• → Southern Altai: мечет (mečet)
• → Tatar: мәчет (mäçet)
• → Turkmen: metjit
• → Unspecified Turkic:
  • → Russian: мече́ть (mečétʹ) (see there for further descendants)
  • → Lithuanian: mečètė
  • → Ukrainian: мече́ть (mečétʹ)
  • → Polish: meczet

South Levantine Arabic

Root
س ج د
1 term

Etymology

From Arabic مَسْجِد (masjid).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mas.ʒid/, [ˈmas.ʒɪd]

• Audio (al-Lidd):

  (file)

Noun

مسجد • (masjid) m (plural مساجد (masājid))

1. mosque

   Synonym: جامع (jāmeʕ)

Urdu

Etymology

Etymology tree

Arabic سَجَدَ (sajada)

Arabic مَسْجِد (masjid)bor.

Classical Persian مَسْجِد (masjid)bor.

Urdu مَسْجِد

Borrowed from Classical Persian مَسْجِد (masjid), borrowed from Arabic مَسْجِد (masjid), from سَجَدَ (sajada). First attested in c. 1609 as Middle Hindi مسجد (msjd /⁠masjid⁠/).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /məs.d͡ʒɪd̪/

• Audio (Pakistan):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪd̪
• Hyphenation: مَسْ‧جِد

Noun

مَسْجِد • (masjid) f (formal plural مَساجِد (masājid), Hindi spelling मस्जिद)

1. mosque (of a building)
2. prayer hall (of a mosque)
3. (by extension) a place of worship for prostration:
4. (Judaism, obsolete) synagogue

   Synonym: کَنِیسَہ (kanīsa)

   • 2019 May 16, شاہ ولی اللہ [Shah Wali-ul-llah], “کراچی میں مقیم یہودیوں کی تاریخ [karācī meṉ maqīm yahūdioṉ kī tārīx]”, in روزنامہ جنگ [Daily Jang]‎^[7], Karachi:

     اس عبادت گاہ کو بنی اسرائیل مسجد بھی کہا جاتا تھا۔

     is ʻibādat gāh ko banī isrā'īl masjid bhī kahā jātā thā.

     This place of worship also used to be known as the Bene Israel synagogue.

Usage notes

While مسجد usually infers the Islamic place of worship – the mosque, broadly speaking, it can be used for other places of worship, but specifically for Abrahamic faiths whose worship involves prostration.

Declension

Declension of مسجد

	singular	plural
direct	مَسْجِد (masjid)	مَسْجِدیں (masjidẽ)
oblique	مَسْجِد (masjid)	مَسْجِدوں (masjidõ)
vocative	مَسْجِد (masjid)	مَسْجِدو (masjido)

Derived terms

• جَامِع مَسْجِد (jāmi' masjid, “a central; congregational (Jamia) mosque”)

Descendants

• → Tamil: மசூதி (macūti), மஸ்ஜித் (masjit)
• → Telugu: మస్జిద్ (masjid)

Further reading

• “مسجد”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2026.
• Fallon, Platts, Qureshi, Shakespear (2024), “مسجد”, in Digital Dictionaries of South Asia [Combined Urdu Dictionaries]