English
inn
Inn comes from Middle English in ‘a holiday home or guesthouse’, and goes back to Old English inn ‘a dwelling, house, chamber, lodging’.
- Old Englishc. 450–1150inn‘a dwelling, house, chamber, lodging’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500in‘a holiday home or guesthouse’
- Englishearliest quotation circa 1570inn
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history not traced here.
Lineage
- Old Englishc. 450–1150inn‘a dwelling, house, chamber, lodging’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500in‘a holiday home or guesthouse’
- Englishearliest quotation circa 1570inn
Earliest quotation: circa 1570, Foxe, A. & M. (1596): “We inned at the signe of the Swan.”
Linked words
through Middle English in ‘a holiday home or guesthouse’
Today it means
noun Any establishment where travellers can procure lodging, food, and drink.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old English inn / inn