hostel en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈhosʈəl/ (South-Asia)
- (US) audio
- /hɔsˈʈɛl/ (South-Asia)
- /ˈhɔsʈəl/ (South-Asia)
- /hɵsˈʈɛl/ (South-Asia)
- /ˈhɒstəl/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /ˈhɑstəl/ (General-American)
Etymology
From Middle English hostel, from Old French hostel, ostel, from Late Latin hospitale (“hospice”), from Classical Latin hospitalis (“hospitable”) itself from hospes (“host”) + -alis (“-al”). Doublet of hotel and hospital. Not in use from late 17th c. (in the usual sense from mid 16th c.) to 1808, when it was revived by Walter Scott in his poem Marmion (see the quotation).
Meanings
-
An overnight lodging place for travelers, with dormitory accommodation and shared facilities, especially a youth hostel.
The rest, around the hostel fire, / Their drowsy limbs recline; / For pillow, underneath each head, / The quiver and the targe were laid: / Deep slumbering on the hostel floor, / Oppressed with toil and ale, / they snore: […]
1808 February 22, Walter Scott, “Canto Third. The Hostel, or Inn.”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, Edinburgh: […] J[ames] Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Company, […]; London: William Miller, and John Murray, →OCLC, stanza XXVIII, pages 161–162:The excitement was palpable for believers and non-believers alike. Next, Francis declined to move into the gilded papal apartment vacated by his predecessor. Instead he was going to remain in the small room in the Santa Marta hostel in the Vatican where he had stayed during the conclave.
2025 April 21, Peter Stanford, “Pope Francis obituary”, in The Guardian:a rundown hostel
- (not US) A temporary refuge for the homeless providing a bed and sometimes food.
-
(obsolete) A small, unendowed college in Oxford or Cambridge.
There are also in Oxford certeine hostels or hals, which may rightwell be called by the names of colleges , if it were not that there is more libertie in them , than is to be seen in the other
1577, Raphaell Holinshed, The Firste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande […], volume I, London: […] [Henry Bynneman] for Iohn Harrison, →OCLC:
-
(obsolete) A public hotel.
Immediately at hand was a small, mean public-house - one of those dingy establishments that seem to express, by their morbid and retiring appearance, a certain anxiety to escape the eye of the police - and into the parlour of this hostel Quin promptly led the way.
1913, Norman Lindsay, A Curate in Bohemia, Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall Co., published 1932, page 135:
- (South-Africa, South-Asia) A university or school dormitory, a place of accommodation for students.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| hostels | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
youth hostel · hosteller · hostelry · hosteler · probation hostel · hostelite · poshtel · bail hostel
Descendants
ஹாஸ்டல் · हॉस्टल · hosteela · ホステル · 호스텔
Relateds
hospice · hotel · hostler · host
Translations (94)
ta விடுதி (an affordable overnight lodging place) · pt albergue (a temporary refuge for the homeless providing a bed and sometimes food) · ru хосте́л (an affordable overnight lodging place) · de Herberge (an affordable overnight lodging place) · hu fogadó (an affordable overnight lodging place) · eo gastejo (an affordable overnight lodging place) · sv ungkarlshotell (an affordable overnight lodging place) · es parador (an affordable overnight lodging place) · el άσυλο (a temporary refuge for the homeless providing a bed and sometimes food) · th หอพัก (an affordable overnight lodging place) · es albergue (an affordable overnight lodging place) · mk хо́стел (an affordable overnight lodging place) · tr hostel (an affordable overnight lodging place) · fr auberge (an affordable overnight lodging place) · pt abrigo (a temporary refuge for the homeless providing a bed and sometimes food) · fi hostelli (an affordable overnight lodging place) · be начле́жка (a temporary refuge for the homeless providing a bed and sometimes food) · da herberg (an affordable overnight lodging place) · sw hosteli (an affordable overnight lodging place) · sk hostel (an affordable overnight lodging place) · ru ночле́жный дом (a temporary refuge for the homeless providing a bed and sometimes food) · uk госте́л (an affordable overnight lodging place) · ja ホステル (an affordable overnight lodging place) · pt estalagem (an affordable overnight lodging place) · ru турба́за (an affordable overnight lodging place) · nl hospies (a temporary refuge for the homeless providing a bed and sometimes food) · fi retkeilymaja (an affordable overnight lodging place) · cmn 背包客棧 /背包客栈 (an affordable overnight lodging place) · fi matkustajakoti (an affordable overnight lodging place) · nl pension (an affordable overnight lodging place) · uk прию́т (a temporary refuge for the homeless providing a bed and sometimes food) · bg прию́т (a temporary refuge for the homeless providing a bed and sometimes food) · da hostel (an affordable overnight lodging place) · hi हॉस्टल (place of accommodation for students) · cmn 宿舍 (an affordable overnight lodging place) · bg хосте́л (an affordable overnight lodging place) · es hostal (an affordable overnight lodging place) · ru мини-оте́ль (an affordable overnight lodging place) · ko 기숙사 (an affordable overnight lodging place) · ro hostel (an affordable overnight lodging place) · ka ჰოსტელი (an affordable overnight lodging place) · uk гурто́житок (an affordable overnight lodging place) · de Heim (an affordable overnight lodging place) · gsw Herbrig (an affordable overnight lodging place) · cmn 旅舍 (an affordable overnight lodging place) · he אַכְסָנִיָּה (an affordable overnight lodging place) · ru общежи́тие (an affordable overnight lodging place) · km ផ្ទះសំណាក់ (an affordable overnight lodging place) · ja 宿舎 (an affordable overnight lodging place) · uk приту́лок (a temporary refuge for the homeless providing a bed and sometimes food) · hu vendégház (an affordable overnight lodging place) · ja 寮 (an affordable overnight lodging place) · uk нічлі́жка (a temporary refuge for the homeless providing a bed and sometimes food) · pl hostel (an affordable overnight lodging place) · da vandrerhjem (an affordable overnight lodging place) · be прыю́т (a temporary refuge for the homeless providing a bed and sometimes food) · sv härbärge (a temporary refuge for the homeless providing a bed and sometimes food) · vi nhà nghỉ (an affordable overnight lodging place) · pt lar de estudantes (place of accommodation for students) · sh prènoćīšte (a temporary refuge for the homeless providing a bed and sometimes food) · hy իջեւանատուն (an affordable overnight lodging place) · ta விடுதி (place of accommodation for students) · ru ночле́жка (a temporary refuge for the homeless providing a bed and sometimes food) · ta ஹாஸ்டல் (place of accommodation for students) · be прыту́лак (a temporary refuge for the homeless providing a bed and sometimes food) · ru прию́т (a temporary refuge for the homeless providing a bed and sometimes food) · hy օթեւան (a temporary refuge for the homeless providing a bed and sometimes food) · ko 호스텔 (an affordable overnight lodging place) · de Wohnheim (an affordable overnight lodging place) · gd ostail (an affordable overnight lodging place) · hy հոսթել (an affordable overnight lodging place) · ar أُوتِيل (an affordable overnight lodging place) · it ostello (an affordable overnight lodging place) · sv härbärge (an affordable overnight lodging place) · cs hostel (an affordable overnight lodging place) · hi छात्रावास (place of accommodation for students) · ar نُزُل (an affordable overnight lodging place) · ru хо́стел (an affordable overnight lodging place) · hy հանրակացարան (an affordable overnight lodging place) · cmn 旅社 (an affordable overnight lodging place) · cmn 招待所 (an affordable overnight lodging place) · id losmen (an affordable overnight lodging place) · ca alberg (an affordable overnight lodging place) · el ξενώνας (an affordable overnight lodging place) · sv vandrarhem (an affordable overnight lodging place) · ka საერთო საცხოვრებელი (an affordable overnight lodging place) · mi wharepuni (an affordable overnight lodging place) · pt albergue (an affordable overnight lodging place) · uk го́стел (an affordable overnight lodging place) · sh прѐноћӣште (a temporary refuge for the homeless providing a bed and sometimes food) · sv pensionat (an affordable overnight lodging place) · hu szálló (an affordable overnight lodging place) · fr pension (an affordable overnight lodging place) · nl herberg (an affordable overnight lodging place)