A mosque (; from ) is a place of worship for followers of Islam. 

There are strict and detailed requirements in Sunni jurisprudence ("fiqh") for a place of worship to be considered a mosque, with places that do not meet these requirements regarded as "musalla"s. There are stringent restrictions on the uses of the area formally demarcated as the mosque (which is often a small portion of the larger complex), and, in the Islamic "Sharia" law, after an area is formally designated as a mosque, it remains so until the Last Day. 

Many mosques have elaborate domes, minarets, and prayer halls, in varying styles of architecture. Mosques originated on the Arabian Peninsula, but are now found in all inhabited continents. The mosque serves as a place where Muslims can come together for "salat" ( "ṣalāt", meaning "prayer") as well as a center for information, education, social welfare, and dispute settlement. The imam leads the congregation in prayer. 

The word entered English from a French word that probably derived from Italian "moschea", a variant of Italian "moscheta", from either Middle Armenian ("mzkit‘") or Medieval Greek μασγίδιον ("masgídion") or Spanish "mezquita", from the Arabic "masjad" meaning "place of worship" or "prostration in prayer", either from Nabataean "masgdhā́" or from Arabic "sajada" meaning "to bow down in prayer", probably ultimately from Aramaic "sghēdh".
Are there mosques on other continents?
Mosques originated on the Arabian Peninsula, but are now found in all inhabited continents.