host Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a person who invites guests to a social event (such as a party in his or her own home) and who is responsible for them while they are there
  2. noun a vast multitude
    legion; horde.
  3. noun an animal or plant that nourishes and supports a parasite; it does not benefit and is often harmed by the association
  4. noun a person who acts as host at formal occasions (makes an introductory speech and introduces other speakers)
    master of ceremonies; emcee.
  5. noun archaic terms for army
    legion.
  6. noun any organization that provides resources and facilities for a function or event
    • Atlanta was chosen to be host for the Olympic Games
  7. noun (medicine) recipient of transplanted tissue or organ from a donor
  8. noun the owner or manager of an inn
    boniface; innkeeper.
  9. noun a technical name for the bread used in the service of Mass or Holy Communion
  10. noun (computer science) a computer that provides client stations with access to files and printers as shared resources to a computer network
    server.
  11. verb be the host of or for
    • We hosted 4 couples last night

WordNet

Host noun
Etymology
LL. hostia sacrifice, victim, from hostire to strike.
Definitions
  1. (R. C. Ch.) The consecrated wafer, believed to be the body of Christ, which in the Mass is offered as a sacrifice; also, the bread before consecration. ✍ In the Latin Vulgate the word was applied to the Savior as being an offering for the sins of men.
Host noun
Etymology
OE. host, ost, OF. host, ost, fr. L. hostis enemy, LL., army. See Guest, and cf. Host a landlord.
Definitions
  1. An army; a number of men gathered for war.
    A host so great as covered all the field. Dryden.
  2. Any great number or multitude; a throng.
    And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God. Luke ii. 13.
    All at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils. Wordsworth.
Host noun
Etymology
OE. host, ost, OF. hoste, oste, F. hôte, from L. hospes a stranger who is treated as a guest, he who treats another as his guest, a hostl prob. fr. hostis stranger, enemy (akin to E. guest a visitor) + potis able; akin to Skr. pati master, lord. See Host an army, Possible, and cf. Hospitable, Hotel.
Definitions
  1. One who receives or entertains another, whether gratuitosly or for compensation; one from whom another receives food, lodging, or entertainment; a landlord. Chaucer. "Fair host and Earl." Tennyson.
    Time is like a fashionable host, That slightly shakes his parting guest by the hand. Shak.
Host transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To give entertainment to. Obs. Spenser.
Host intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To lodge at an inn; to take up entertainment. Obs. "Where you shall host." Shak.

Webster 1913