ospite

Forms

ospite m or f by sense (plural ospiti)^[1] Old forms include òspide, òspido and òspito.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin hospes (“host; guest”), from the accusative ⟨hospitem⟩, a learned word beside the inherited oste, which came through Old French.^[3][4][5][1] The Latin word had both meanings, the one who gives hospitality and the one who receives it, and most Romance languages kept both.^[6][7] Inherited forms are Old French oste (modern French hôte), Occitan oste, Catalan hoste, Spanish huésped, Portuguese hóspede and Romanian oaspete.^[7][5][8]

The origin of the Latin word is uncertain.^[6][4][3] A widely quoted explanation takes it from an older ⟨*hostipotis⟩ “master of the stranger”, the head of the house who gave hospitality to a foreigner, a compound of Latin hostis (“stranger”) and potis (“master”).^{[7][9][10][11]} Nocentini traces this to Proto-Indo-European *gʰóstis (“stranger, guest”) and Proto-Indo-European *pótis (“master”), and compares Old Church Slavonic господь (gospodĭ, “lord”) and Russian господи́н (gospodín, “sir”).^[7] The DEI compares the Paelignian ⟨hospus⟩ and the Latin sospes (“safe”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is before 1342 in Domenico Cavalca, with the sense “guest”: he speaks of being eager to receive guests kindly (sollicito in ricevere ospiti benignamente).^[6][12][2] The adjective “foreign” appears in the 14th-century translation of Saint Augustine, and the sense “host” in a 15th-century legend of Lazarus, Martha and Mary Magdalene.^[6]

Semantic evolution

As in Latin, the word kept both sides of hospitality: in Italian today ospite is the host as well as the guest, and context tells them apart.^[12][9] Its family grew in the same period: ospitalità is recorded in the 14th century, ospitale “hospitable” before 1565 in Varchi, and ospitare in 1687.^[6] The Tommaseo–Bellini dictionary in 1869 still called ospitare a needless word that some people used.^[6]

In biology, from 1935, the ospite is the organism a parasite lives on.^[6] Later uses include the guest on a television show, the visiting team in sport (squadra ospite), and a small guest towel.^[12][3][13]

Timeline

• Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses ospiti for guests.^[6][12]
• 14th century – Ospitalità and the adjective ospite “foreign” are recorded.^[6]
• 15th century – First record of the sense “host”.^[6]
• Before 1565 – Benedetto Varchi uses ospitale “hospitable”.^[6]
• 1687 – Ospitare is first recorded.^[6]
• 1935 – The Enciclopedia Italiana uses ospite for the host of a parasite.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A guest: someone who stays with another person and is given food and lodging: Mia cugina sarà nostra ospite per una settimana.^[12][9]
2. A visitor invited to a meal, a party or a short visit: Domenica abbiamo ospiti a pranzo.^[12][10]
3. A guest invited to a television or radio programme, a show or a conference.^[12][3]
4. A guest of a hotel.^[3][10]
5. A host or hostess: someone who receives others in their home.^[12][9][10]
6. (biology) An organism on or in which a parasite lives.^[12][10][3]
7. A person who receives a transplant.^[12]
8. A small guest towel.^[12][3][13]

Adjective

1. That gives hospitality: la città ospite.^[12][9][3]
2. That receives hospitality, (sports) of a team, playing away, on the other team's ground.^[12][9][13]
3. (literary) Hospitable, ospitale.^[12][3]

Word family

• ospitale
• ospitalità
• ospitare
• ospitante

Related words

• ospedale
• ospizio
• oste
• ostello
• Latin hospes

Usage notes

The proverb l'ospite è come il pesce: dopo tre giorni puzza (“guests are like fish: after three days they stink”) warns against staying too long.^[9][3][13] To leave insalutato ospite is to go without saying goodbye to anyone.^[3][14] The word is masculine or feminine according to the person: un ospite, un'ospite.^[12][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 12, 204
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2692
5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
7. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
9. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
11. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli