There is a book entitled The
Complete Idiot’s Guide to
Understanding Islam. It discusses
within it many things, including the
etymology of the word “mosque”. It
says that this word is derived from
the Spanish word for “mosquito”. It
claims that the word was first used
during the Christian invasion of
Muslim Spain in the 15th century when
the forces of King Ferdinand and Queen
Isabella boasted they would swat out
Muslim prayer houses like so many
mosquitoes. Is this true?
Answered by the Scientific Research
Committee - IslamToday.net
This etymology is incorrect.
The Spanish word for "mosquito" is
mosquito and literally means “little
fly”. This is a case where the English
language borrowed the word directly
from the Spanish.
The word for “fly” in Spanish is
mosca, which is derived from the Latin
musca. The diminutive suffix “-ito” is
attached to it to form the word
mosquito or “little fly”.
The Spanish term for “mosque” is
mezquita, derived from the old Spanish
mesquita. This word was most certainly
derived from the Arabic word masjid,
which many Arabs then and now
pronounce as masgid.
In Spain during the era of Muslim
rule – and this was before the time of
King Ferdinand – Spanish speakers were
using the word mosquito for the insect
and the word mesquita for the Muslim
place of worship. The two words are
not related to one another in any way.
The word “mosque” was introduced into
the English language in the late 14th
or early 15th century from the French.
It comes from the French word mosquée
from the old French word mousquaie.
The French, in turn, derived the word
from the Italian word moschea from
moscheta. The Italians got it either
directly from the Arabic word masjid
or from the old Spanish mesquita.
References:
The American Heritage Dictionary of
the English Language, Fourth Edition;
© 2000 Houghton Mifflin Company.
Online Etymology Dictionary, ETYMOLOGY
Moo-Muc
http://www.etymonline.com/m8etym.htm