HOST
Host, v. t.
Defn: To give entertainment to. [Obs.] Spenser.
HOST
Host, v. i.
Defn: To lodge at an inn; to take up entertainment. [Obs.] "Where you shall host." Shak.
HOSTAGE Hos"tage, n. Etym: [OE. hostage, OF. hostage, ostage, F. ôtage, LL. hostaticus, ostaticum, for hospitaticum, fr. L. hospes guest, host. The first meaning is, the state of a guest, hospitality; hence, the state of a hostage (treated as a guest); and both these meanings occur in Old French. See Host a landlord.]
Defn: A person given as a pledge or security for the performance of the conditions of a treaty or stipulations of any kind, on the performance of which the person is to be released. Your hostages I have, so have you mine; And we shall talk before we fight. Shak. He that hath a wife and children hath given hostages to fortune. Bacon.
HOSTEL
Hos"tel, n. Etym: [OE. hostel, ostel, OF. hostel, ostel, LL.
hospitale, hospitalis, fr. L. hospitalis. See Hospital, and cf.
Hotel.]
1. An inn. [Archaic] Poe. So pass I hostel, hall, and grange. Tennyson.
2. A small, unendowed college in Oxford or Cambridge. [Obs.] Holinshed.
HOSTELER
Hos"tel*er, n. Etym: [See Hostel, and cf. Hostler.]