hospital [ME] Latin hospis meant both ‘host’ and ‘guest’. This has given us host [ME] itself (in the meaning ‘a person who entertains other people as guests’), hostel [ME], and *hotel, as well as hospice [E19th] and hospitality [LME]. Although the immediate source of guest [OE] is Old Norse gestr, the history of the word can be traced back to an ancient root shared by Latin hostis.