English
hospital
Hospital comes from Old French hospital, from Late Latin hospitālis ‘guesthouse’, from Latin hospitālis ‘hospitable’, from hospes ‘host, guest’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰóstipotis‘lord, master’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*hostipotis‘host’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhospes‘host, guest’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEhospitālis‘hospitable’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEsame form‘hospice, guesthouse’noun use of hospitālis
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400hospital
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘a hostel or guesthouse’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰóstipotis‘lord, master’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*hostipotis‘host’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhospes‘host, guest’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEhospitālis‘hospitable’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEsame form‘hospice, guesthouse’noun use of hospitālis
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400hospital
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘a hostel or guesthouse’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590same form
Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto IX: “[…] they spide a goodly castle, plast / Foreby…”
Linked words
through Proto-Italic *hostipotis ‘host’
through Latin hospes ‘host, guest’
through Latin hospitālis ‘hospitable’
Today it means
noun A large medical facility, usually in a building with multiple floors, where seriously ill or injured patients are given extensive medical or surgical treatment.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʰóstipotis / hospital