English
hostress
Hostress comes from Middle English hostesse ‘hostess’, and goes back to Old French ostesse.
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400ostesse
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hostesseas hoostresse‘hostess’
- Englishearliest quotation 1802hostress
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400ostesse
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hostesseas hoostresse‘hostess’
- Englishearliest quotation 1802hostress
Earliest quotation: 1802, Samuel Jackson Pratt, Gleanings Through Wales: “By this time, mine hostress set before us our…”
Formed from host + -ress
Proto-Indo-European *gʰóstipotis ‘master of guests’
Proto-Italic *hostipotis
Latin hospes ‘a host’
Old French oste ‘innkeeper’
Middle English hoste
English host
Linked words
through Middle English hostesse ‘hostess’
Today it means
noun A female host.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old French ostesse / hostress