isqof

Maltese

Etymology

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪs.ʔɔf/

Noun

isqof m (plural isqfijiet)

1. (Christianity) bishop (church official)
2. (chess) bishop (chess piece)

Derived terms

• arċisqof

 

Related terms

• isqfija