isqof
Maltese edit
Etymology edit
From Arabic أُسْقُف (ʔusquf), from Ancient Greek ἐπίσκοπος (epískopos). One of the specifically Christian words in Maltese that were inherited from Arabic, suggesting that there were Arabic-speaking Christians in Malta during the Islamic reign. Otherwise, the words must have been brought in by missionaries during the re-Christianisation process. These missionaries would probably have been Sicilians who had learnt Arabic, though it is also imaginable that some of them were brought in from Christian communities on the Arabic-speaking mainland.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
isqof m (plural isqfijiet)
- (Christianity) bishop (church official)
- (chess) bishop (chess piece)