hostelry

C2+ Topic:House & Home

US /ˈhɑstəlri/ UK /ˈhɒstəlri/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
an inn or public house providing lodging and food

Travelers rested at the old hostelry by the crossroads.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · an inn or public house... inn tavern hostel lodge hotelaubergepub

Word family

Related forms hostelhostlerhospital hospitality

Etymology

From Middle English hostelrie, from Old French hostelerie ('inn'), from hostel ('lodging'), from Medieval Latin hospitale ('guest-house'), from Latin hospes ('guest, host').

hostelerie Old French hospitale la-lat hospes Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

House & Home Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# hostelry

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈhɑstəlri/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈhɒstəlri/

## Meanings
1. an inn or public house providing lodging and food

## Examples
- Travelers rested at the old hostelry by the crossroads.

## Synonyms
- inn
- tavern
- hostel
- lodge
- hotel
- auberge
- pub

## Related Forms
- hostel
- hostler
- hospital
- hospitality

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: hostelerie
- Root: hospitale
- Root: hospes

## Etymology
From Middle English hostelrie, from Old French hostelerie ('inn'), from hostel ('lodging'), from Medieval Latin hospitale ('guest-house'), from Latin hospes ('guest, host').

## AI Etymology
hostelry comes from Middle English hostelrie, from Old French hostelerie ('inn'), from hostel ('lodging'), from Medieval Latin hospitale ('guest-house'), from Latin hospes ('guest, host'). The path is chiefly one of transmission: the word passes through the named languages and forms, with each stage preserving part of the modern shape. In present English, the noun sense is "an inn or public house providing lodging and food", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as hostel, hostler, hospital, and hospitality. Its semantic neighborhood includes inn, tavern, hostel, and lodge, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Old French hostelerie, Medieval Latin hospitale, and Latin hospes.

## Topics
- House & Home
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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