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host

 - 14 dictionary results

host

1[hohst]
–noun
1. a person who receives or entertains guests at home or elsewhere: the host at a theater party.
2. a master of ceremonies, moderator, or interviewer for a television or radio program.
3. a person, place, company, or the like, that provides services, resources, etc., as for a convention or sporting event: Our city would like to serve as host for the next Winter Olympics.
4. the landlord of an inn.
5. a living animal or plant from which a parasite obtains nutrition.
6. Surgery. the recipient of a graft. Compare donor (def. 2).
–verb (used with object)
7. to be the host at (a dinner, reception, etc.): He hosted a reception for new members.
8. to act as host to: The vice president hosted the foreign dignitaries during their visit.
9. to act as master of ceremonies, moderator, or interviewer for: to host a popular talk show.
–verb (used without object)
10. to perform the duties or functions of a host.

Origin:
1250–1300; ME (h)oste (n.) < MF < L hospit- (s. of hospes) host, guest, stranger, perh. < *hosti-pot(i)s or *hos-pot(i)s, equiv. to hos(ti)- comb. form of hostis stranger (see host 2 ) + -pot(i)s, akin to potis having the power to, posse to be able (see potent ) (hence, “one granting hospitality, one in charge of guests”); cf., with different initial elements, Gk despótēs master, despot, Lith viẽšpats lord


hostless, adjective
hostship, noun

host

2[hohst]
–noun
1. a multitude or great number of persons or things: a host of details.
2. an army.

Origin:
1250–1300; ME (h)oste < OF < L hostis stranger, enemy; akin to guest


1. swarm, crowd, drove, throng, horde, myriad.

Host

[hohst]
–noun Ecclesiastical.
the bread or wafer consecrated in the celebration of the Eucharist.

Origin:
1275–1325; ME hoste < LL hostia Eucharistic wafer (L: victim, sacrifice); r. ME oyst < MF oiste < LL, as above
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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host 1   (hōst)   
n.  
  1. One who receives or entertains guests in a social or official capacity.

  2. A person who manages an inn or hotel.

  3. One that furnishes facilities and resources for a function or event: the city chosen as host for the Olympic Games.

  4. The emcee or interviewer on a radio or television program.

  5. Biology The animal or plant on which or in which another organism lives.

  6. Medicine The recipient of a transplanted tissue or organ.

  7. Computer Science A computer containing data or programs that another computer can access by means of a network or modem.

tr.v.   host·ed, host·ing, hosts Usage Problem
To serve as host to or at: "the garden party he had hosted last spring" (Saturday Review).

[Middle English, host, guest, from Old French, from Latin hospes, hospit-; see ghos-ti- in Indo-European roots.]
host'ly adj.
Usage Note: Host was used as a verb in Shakespeare's time, but this usage was long obsolete when the verb was reintroduced (or perhaps reinvented) in recent years to mean "perform the role of a host." The usage occurs particularly in contexts relating to institutional gatherings or television and radio shows, where the person performing the role of host has not personally invited the guests. Perhaps because the verb involves a suspect extension of the traditional conception of hospitality, it initially met with critical resistance. In a 1968 survey only 18 percent of the Usage Panel accepted the usage in the sentence The Cleveland chapter will host this year's convention. Over time, however, the usage has become increasingly well established and has the useful purpose of describing the activities of one who performs the ceremonial or practical role of a host, as in arranging a conference or welcoming guests. In our 1986 survey, 53 percent of the Panelists accepted the usage in the phrase a reception hosted by the Secretary of State. The verb is less well accepted when it is used to describe the role of a performer who acts as a master of ceremonies for a broadcast or film, where the relation of the word to the notion of "hospitality" is stretched still further.
host 2   (hōst)   
n.  
  1. An army.

  2. A great number; a multitude. See Synonyms at multitude.


[Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin hostis, from Latin, enemy; see ghos-ti- in Indo-European roots.]
host 3 also Host   (hōst)   
n.   Ecclesiastical
The consecrated bread or wafer of the Eucharist.

[Middle English, from Latin hostia, sacrifice.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

host  (1)
"person who receives guests," c.1290, from O.Fr. hoste "guest, host" (12c.), from L. hospitem (nom. hospes) "guest, host," lit. "lord of strangers," from PIE *ghostis- "stranger" (cf. O.C.S. gospodi "lord, master," Goth. gasts, O.E. gæst "guest"). The biological sense of "animal or plant having a parasite" is from 1857. The verb is 1421, from the noun. Hostess is attested from c.1290.

host  (2)
"multitude" 1265, from O.Fr. host "army" (10c.), from M.L. hostis "army, war-like expedition," from L. hostis "enemy, stranger," from the same root as host (1). Replaced O.E. here, and has in turn been largely superseded by army. The generalized meaning of "large number" is first attested 1613.

host  (3)
"body of Christ, consecrated bread," c.1303, from L. hostia "sacrifice," also "the animal sacrificed," applied in Church L. to Christ; probably ult. related to host (1) in its root sense of "stranger, enemy."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: host
Pronunciation: 'hOst
Function: noun
1 : a living animal or plant on or in which a parasite lives —see DEFINITIVE HOST, INTERMEDIATE HOST
2 : the larger, stronger, or dominant one of a commensal or symbiotic pair
3 a : an individual into which a tissue or part is transplanted from another b : an individual in whom an abnormal growth (as a cancer) is proliferating
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

host (hōst)
n.

  1. The animal or plant on which or in which a parasitic organism lives.

  2. The recipient of a transplanted tissue or organ.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Computing Dictionary

host
1. A computer connected to a network.
The term node includes devices such as routers and printers which would not normally be called "hosts".
2. A computer to which one connects using a terminal emulator.
(1995-02-16)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Bible Dictionary

Host

an entertainer (Rom. 16:23); a tavern-keeper, the keeper of a caravansary (Luke 10:35). In warfare, a troop or military force. This consisted at first only of infantry. Solomon afterwards added cavalry (1 Kings 4:26; 10:26). Every male Israelite from twenty to fifty years of age was bound by the law to bear arms when necessary (Num. 1:3; 26:2; 2 Chr. 25:5). Saul was the first to form a standing army (1 Sam. 13:2; 24:2). This example was followed by David (1 Chr. 27:1), and Solomon (1 Kings 4:26), and by the kings of Israel and Judah (2 Chr. 17:14; 26:11; 2 Kings 11:4, etc.).

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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Abbreviations & Acronyms
HOST
Healthcare Open Systems and Trials
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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