host: Indo-European *ghostis denoted ‘stranger’. From it were descended Germanic *gastiz (source of English guest), Greek xénos ‘guest, stranger’ (source of English xenon and xenophobia), and Latin hostis ‘stranger, enemy’. This original meaning is retained in the derived adjective hostile [16], but the noun itself in postclassical times came to mean ‘army’, and that is where (via Old French) English got host ‘army’ [13] from.
Its main modern sense, ‘large number’, is a 17th-century development. But Latin had another noun, hospes ‘host’, which was probably derived from hostis. Its stem form, hospit-, passed into Old French as hoste (whose modern French descendant hôte means both ‘host’ and ‘guest’). English borrowed this in the 13th century, giving it a second noun host, quite distinct in meaning, but ultimately of the same origin. (Other English words that owe their existence to Latin hospes include hospice, hospital, hostel, hotel, and ostler.) But that is not the end of the host story.
English has yet another noun host, meaning ‘bread of the Eucharist’ [14]. This comes via Old French hoiste from Latin hostia ‘sacrifice, victim’. => guest, hospital, hostile, hotel, ostler, xenon, xenophobia
host (n.1)
"person who receives guests," late 13c., from Old French hoste "guest, host, hostess, landlord" (12c., Modern French hôte), from Latin hospitem (nominative hospes) "guest, host," literally "lord of strangers," from PIE *ghostis- "stranger" (cognates: Old Church Slavonic gosti "guest, friend," gospodi "lord, master;" see guest). The biological sense of "animal or plant having a parasite" is from 1857.
host (n.2)
"multitude" mid-13c., from Old French host "army" (10c.), from Medieval Latin hostis "army, war-like expedition," from Latin hostis "enemy, foreigner, stranger," from the same root as host (n.1). Replaced Old English here, and in turn has been largely superseded by army. The generalized meaning of "large number" is first attested 1610s.
host (n.3)
"body of Christ, consecrated bread," c. 1300, from Latin hostia "sacrifice," also "the animal sacrificed," applied in Church Latin to Christ; probably ultimately related to host (n.1) in its root sense of "stranger, enemy."
host (v.)
"to serve as a host," early 15c., from host (n.1). Related: Hosted; hosting.
实用例句
1. The Prime Minister played host to French Premier Jacques Chirac.
首相接待了法国总理雅克·希拉克。
来自柯林斯例句
2. The new e-books will include a host of Rough Guide titles.
新电子书将包括大量的简明指南。
来自柯林斯例句
3. He left a host of other riders trailing in his slipstream.
他把其他的摩托车手甩在身后。
来自柯林斯例句
4. A host of problems may delay the opening of the Channel Tunnel.
可能推迟英吉利海峡隧道开通的问题一大筐。
来自柯林斯例句
5. In 1987 Canada played host to the Commonwealth Conference.
