Arabic-L:LING:'mosque' etymology

[Dilworth Parkinson]

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Arabic-L: Thu 09 Jan 2003
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-------------------------Directory-------------------------------------

1) Subject:'mosque' etymology
2) Subject:'mosque' etymology
3) Subject:'mosque' etymology
4) Subject:'mosque' etymology

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1)
Date:  09 Jan 2003
From: Jim Rader <jrader at Merriam-Webster.com>
Subject:'mosque' etymology

The "mosquito" etymology of <mosque> is Web folklore, "urban
legend," or what you will.  At the entry <mosquée> in the French
monolingual dictionary _Trésor de la langue française_ you will find
an etymology with full bibliographical references that traces the
Romance word (borrowed into English from French, ultimately) to
Arabic <masjid>.

Jim Rader

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2)
Date:  09 Jan 2003
From: "Dr. M Deeb" <mdeeb at gpu.srv.ualberta.ca>
Subject:'mosque' etymology

     Whilst the current uncharitable climate compels me to sympathize  
with
the Islamic sentiment expressed in the cited e-mail, I can't subscribe  
to
the alleged etymological link between *mosque* & *mosquito.*  The  
striking
phonetic resemblance between the two words is very likely the source of
hasty conclusions.

     English acquired the word *mosque* (around 1400) via Italian  
*moschea* &
French *mosquee* (with an 'accent aigu' on the first -e) as *mosquee*
(without the accent), and ultimately dropped the final -e.   _Oxford's  
New
English Dictionary_ & _Miriam-Webster's New International Dictionary_   
most
interestingly report the use of *mosqued* in 1902.

     It's worth noting that the Spanish for "masjid" is *mezquita* (a  
close
latinization of the Arabic term, in my view), is quite distinct from the
Spanish *mosquito*  (= a little gnat), itself a diminutive of *mosca*  
(= a
fly), which comes from Latin, *mosca.*

     I hope this will help to set the etymological record straight.
                                         M. Deeb

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3)
Date:  09 Jan 2003
From: Demetri Kastritsis <kastrits at fas.harvard.edu>
Subject:'mosque' etymology

Your friend's story is apocryphal. The term "mosque" is indeed derived
from the Arabic "masjid" (pronounced "masgid" in medieval North Africa  
as
it still is in Egypt today). Your friend refers to King Ferdinand of
Spain's saying that he would swat the Muslims like mosquitoes--I don't  
know if
that story is true, but if so, Ferdinand was making a pun on a word
already in existence in Spanish that merely happened to resemble the  
word
"mosquito." The word "mosque" was already being used in English in 1400,
before Ferdinand's time, as the Oxford English Dictionary says. The OED
derives the word from "masjid" and gives several alternative
forms such as moseak, moseache, muskey, muskaye, mosquee, moskuee, all
appearing in English. The Spanish form from which they are derived is
"mezquita," which may appear like "mosquito" but is also obviously  
closer
to "masgid." "Mosquito" is a totally different word, a Spanish  
diminutive
of "mosca" (Latin "musca" meaning 'fly').

I hope this helped to clarify matters.

Best wishes,

Demetris

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4)
Date:  09 Jan 2003
From: suma99 at att.net
Subject:'mosque' etymology

Since when was the book "Idiot's Guide to Islam" the authority on  
Arabic or
English lexicology?
I think that little story on the etymological origins of the word  
"mosque" is
ridiculous and it's even embarrassing that some Muslims give credence  
to such
folk stories!

Ismael Ibraheem

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End of Arabic-L:  09 Jan 2003