hostility

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English hostilite,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Middle French hostilité (“enmity”),^[3][5][6][2] or directly borrowed from Late Latin hostīlitās (“enmity”);^[3][5][6][7] the OED takes the Late Latin word as the source, perhaps through French.^[8] It is formed from Latin hostīlis (“of an enemy, hostile”), the source of hostile,^[5][3] from hostis (“stranger, foreigner; later enemy”),^[3] from Proto-Indo-European *ghos-ti- (“stranger, guest, host”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Hostile action: early 15th century in Etymonline.^[3] The Middle English Dictionary's first quotation is from a translation of Vegetius (before 1460), where horsemen and footmen form a ring to keep off all hostility.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the Rolls of Parliament of 1473 the word is paired with werre, war.^[2] The OED's first record is from 1531, in Elyot's Governour, for the state of hostility between communities or states, especially war.^[8] The plural hostilities, acts of war, is recorded from 1613,^[8][3] and the wider sense of opposition in thought or principle from 1632.^[8] Johnson (1755) still defined it only as "the practices of an open enemy; open war".^[9] In the Royal Navy of the Second World War, hostilities only described a seaman enlisted for the duration of the war (1942).^[8] Modern dictionaries put the general sense of enmity first.^[5][10]

Timeline

• early 15th century – hostilite, hostile action.^[3][4]
• before 1460 – first Middle English Dictionary quotation.^[2]
• 1531 – the state of being hostile, especially war between states.^[8]
• 1613 – plural, acts of war.^[8][3]
• 1632 – opposition in thought or principle.^[8]
• 1942 – naval hostilities only ratings.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. Unfriendly or hostile feeling; enmity or antagonism: The new manager met open hostility from the staff.^[10][5][8]
2. A hostile act.^[10][5]
3. hostilities (plural): acts of war; fighting: Hostilities ended with the armistice.^[10][5][8]
4. Opposition or resistance to an idea or principle.^[5][8]

Related words

• hostile
• host
• guest

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins