host1

[hohst] /hoʊst/
noun
1.
a person who receives or entertains guests at home or elsewhere:
the host at a theater party.
2.
a master of ceremonies, moderator, or interviewer for a television or radio program.
3.
a person, place, company, or the like, that provides services, resources, etc., as for a convention or sporting event:
Our city would like to serve as host for the next Winter Olympics.
4.
the landlord of an inn.
5.
a living animal or plant from which a parasite obtains nutrition.
6.
Surgery. the recipient of a graft.
Compare donor (def 2).
verb (used with object)
7.
to be the host at (a dinner, reception, etc.):
He hosted a reception for new members.
8.
to act as host to:
The vice president hosted the foreign dignitaries during their visit.
9.
to act as master of ceremonies, moderator, or interviewer for:
to host a popular talk show.
verb (used without object)
10.
to perform the duties or functions of a host.
Origin
1250-1300; Middle English (h)oste (noun) < Middle French < Latin hospit- (stem of hospes) host, guest, stranger, perhaps < *hosti-pot(i)s or *hos-pot(i)s, equivalent to hos(ti)- combining form of hostis stranger (see host2) + -pot(i)s, akin to potis having the power to, posse to be able (see potent) (hence, “one granting hospitality, one in charge of guests”); compare, with different initial elements, Greek despótēs master, despot, Lithuanian viẽšpats lord
Related forms
hostless, adjective
hostship, noun

host2

[hohst] /hoʊst/
noun
1.
a multitude or great number of persons or things:
a host of details.
2.
an army.
Origin
1250-1300; Middle English (h)oste < Old French < Latin hostis stranger, enemy; akin to guest
Synonyms
1. swarm, crowd, drove, throng, horde, myriad.

Host

[hohst] /hoʊst/
noun, Ecclesiastical
1.
the bread or wafer consecrated in the celebration of the Eucharist.
Origin
1275-1325; Middle English hoste < Late Latin hostia Eucharistic wafer (Latin: victim, sacrifice); replacing Middle English oyst < Middle French oiste < Late Latin, as above
Examples from the web for hosts
  • The enclosed former driveway hosts a dining area that opens onto the kitchen and rear garden.
  • To ensure their own survival, parasites alter the appearance and behavior of their hosts in the creepiest ways.
  • What can be revealed by my hosts is revealed: corn kernels are delivered and milled, dextrose is extracted from starch.
  • The city hosts a number of annual festivals and has its own ballet and symphony.
  • The museum also hosts various temporary exhibitions.
  • We found the people to be friendly, courteous and the best of hosts.
  • The following pages show more examples of parasites that spread by controlling their hosts.
  • Naturalists have long recognized the ability of parasites to influence the behavior of their hosts.
  • Those are people, evidently getting bored by whatever weapons display the kiosk hosts.
  • Remember, she's the first in a week of five hosts, each with a different area of expertise.
British Dictionary definitions for hosts

host1

/həʊst/
noun
1.
a person who receives or entertains guests, esp in his own home
2.
  1. a country or organization which provides facilities for and receives visitors to an event
  2. (as modifier): the host nation
3.
the compere of a show or television programme
4.
(biology)
  1. an animal or plant that nourishes and supports a parasite
  2. an animal, esp an embryo, into which tissue is experimentally grafted
5.
(computing) a computer connected to a network and providing facilities to other computers and their users
6.
the owner or manager of an inn
verb
7.
to be the host of (a party, programme, etc): to host one's own show
8.
(transitive) (US, informal) to leave (a restaurant) without paying the bill
Word Origin
C13: from French hoste, from Latin hospes guest, foreigner, from hostis enemy

host2

/həʊst/
noun
1.
a great number; multitude
2.
an archaic word for army
Word Origin
C13: from Old French hoste, from Latin hostis stranger, enemy

Host

/həʊst/
noun
1.
the bread consecrated in the Eucharist
Word Origin
C14: from Old French oiste, from Latin hostia victim
Word Origin and History for hosts

host

n.

"person who receives guests," late 13c., from Old French hoste "guest, host, hostess, landlord" (12c., Modern French hôte), from Latin hospitem (nominative hospes) "guest, host," literally "lord of strangers," from PIE *ghostis- "stranger" (cf. Old Church Slavonic gosti "guest, friend," gospodi "lord, master;" see guest). The biological sense of "animal or plant having a parasite" is from 1857.

"multitude" mid-13c., from Old French host "army" (10c.), from Medieval Latin hostis "army, war-like expedition," from Latin hostis "enemy, foreigner, stranger," from the same root as host (n.1). Replaced Old English here, and in turn has been largely superseded by army. The generalized meaning of "large number" is first attested 1610s.

"body of Christ, consecrated bread," c.1300, from Latin hostia "sacrifice," also "the animal sacrificed," applied in Church Latin to Christ; probably ultimately related to host (n.1) in its root sense of "stranger, enemy."

v.

"to serve as a host," early 15c., from host (n.1). Related: Hosted; hosting.

hosts in Medicine

host (hōst)
n.

  1. The animal or plant on which or in which a parasitic organism lives.

  2. The recipient of a transplanted tissue or organ.

hosts in Science
host
  (hōst)   

    1. The larger of two organisms in a symbiotic relationship.

    2. An organism or cell on or in which a parasite lives or feeds. ◇ A definitive host is an organism in which a parasite reaches sexual maturity. The anopheles mosquito is the definitive host for the malaria plasmodium because, while the mosquito is not adversely affected by the plasmodium's presence, it is the organism in which the plasmodium matures and reproduces. ◇ An intermediate host is an organism in which a parasite develops but does not attain sexual maturity. Humans and certain other vertebrates are the intermediate host of the malaria plasmodium. ◇ A paratenic host is an organism which may be required for the completion of a parasite's life cycle but in which no development of the parasite occurs. The unhatched eggs of nematodes are sometimes carried in a paratenic host such as a bird or rodent. When a predator eats the paratenic host, the eggs are ingested as well.

  2. The recipient of a transplanted tissue or organ.

  3. A computer containing data or programs that another computer can access by means of a network or modem.


Related Abbreviations for hosts

HOST

Healthcare Open Systems and Trials
hosts in the Bible

an entertainer (Rom. 16:23); a tavern-keeper, the keeper of a caravansary (Luke 10:35). In warfare, a troop or military force. This consisted at first only of infantry. Solomon afterwards added cavalry (1 Kings 4:26; 10:26). Every male Israelite from twenty to fifty years of age was bound by the law to bear arms when necessary (Num. 1:3; 26:2; 2 Chr. 25:5). Saul was the first to form a standing army (1 Sam. 13:2; 24:2). This example was followed by David (1 Chr. 27:1), and Solomon (1 Kings 4:26), and by the kings of Israel and Judah (2 Chr. 17:14; 26:11; 2 Kings 11:4, etc.).