hospice

Forms

hospice m (plural hospices)^[1] Old French hospise (1294).^[2][3] Anglo-Norman ospice.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin hospitium (“hospitality, lodging”), derived from hospes (“guest, host”).^[2][3][5][6] In Medieval Latin the word had come to mean the right of lodging (865) and the guest house of a monastery (11th century).^[2][3] The Latin word is related to French hôte.^[7][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its only medieval record is hospise in Gautier de Montreuil's Miracle de saint Éloi (1294), in the phrase prendre hospise, to take shelter for the night.^[2][3][8]

Semantic evolution

The word meant at first shelter or hospitality in the abstract, and Bloch and Wartburg find this sense still in use in the 18th century;^[5][3] donner hospice is recorded in 1798.^[5][3] In 1690 Furetière records it for a small convent built in a town to lodge members of the order who were travelling.^[2][8] From 1721 it is also a house where monks receive pilgrims and travellers, as on the Great St Bernard pass.^[2][3][9]

The modern sense, an establishment for orphans, the old, the infirm and the incurable, dates from 1770 (Raynal).^[2][3] Unlike hôpital, it implies shelter rather than medical care; in the 19th century it was distinguished from asile, came to apply mainly to destitute old people, and it now tends to give way to euphemisms.^[3][9]

Timeline

• 1294 – Prendre hospise in the Miracle de saint Éloi.^[2][3]
• 1316 – The Anglo-Norman ospice, a hospital, is recorded.^[4]
• 1690 – Furetière records a small convent for travelling monks.^[2][8]
• 1721 – Used of a house where pilgrims and travellers are received.^[3]
• 1770 – Raynal uses it for a home for the old, the sick and the destitute.^[2][3][8]
• 1798 – Donner hospice is recorded.^[3]
• 1825 – The Académie has hospice des aliénés.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A house where monks give hospitalité to pilgrims and travellers: l'hospice du Grand-Saint-Bernard.^[9][2][7]
2. (dated) A small religious house in a town where an order lodges its travelling members.^[2][8]
3. (historical) An institution that took in orphans, the old, the infirm and the incurably ill, an almshouse.^[9][2]
4. A home for destitute old people: finir à l'hospice.^[9][3]

Related words

• hôte
• hôpital
• hospitalité
• Latin hospitium

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 499a
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert