inn

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪn/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old English inn (“lodging, dwelling, house”),^[2][3][4] probably from the adverb inne, inside, within (see in),^[3][2][5] so that an inn is a place one stays in.^[6] It is cognate with Old Norse inni, a dwelling, refuge.^[2][5][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A dwelling, abode or lodging: about 1000, in Ælfric.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

A public house for eating or lodging is perhaps by about 1200 (Barnhart says probably before 1200),^[3][2] and certainly by about 1400, when the OED first records a house for lodging and entertaining travellers.^[3][8] Medieval translators used it for Latin hospitium, a residence for students,^[6][9] attested in Anglo-Latin from the early 13th century and surviving in the Inns of Court (mid-15th century), the buildings of the four legal societies of London.^[3][6] Trench notes that the word always meant a lodging, a place one turns in to, but became restricted to one that gives food and shelter for payment.^[10] The verb, to lodge, is from Old English and now rare.^[11]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – a dwelling.^[8]
• c. 1200 – a public house (perhaps).^[3]
• early 13th century – a students' residence (Anglo-Latin).^[3]
• c. 1400 – a house for travellers.^[8]
• mid-15th century – Inns of Court.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A pub or small hotel that offers food, drink and lodging to travellers.
2. A tavern or restaurant.
3. (historical) A residence for students, especially of law, in London, now only in names such as the Inns of Court.

Word family

• innless
• inmate
• innholder
• innkeeper
• motor inn

Related words

• in
• inner
• hospice
• hostel

Usage notes

In Scots dialect, inns, in the plural, meant a dwelling.^[12]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker
11. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)