Meanings
hostler1
plural hostlers · alternative ostler
- A worker employed at an inn, hostelry, or stable to look after horses.
As the chaise drove through Clavering, the hostler standing whistling under the archway of the Clavering Arms, winked the postilion ominously, as much as to say all was over.
1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 2, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLCSynonyms: groom
- USbroadlyA railway worker employed to care for a locomotive or other large engine; especially, a yard jockey.
The employees contend that inasmuch as there are seven engines hostled at Sleepy Eye within a 12-hour period, a hostler from the ranks of the firemen must be assigned […]
1924, Decisions of the United States Railroad Labor Board, page 732
Hostler2
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA worker employed at an inn, hostelry, or stable to look after horses.
nounA railway worker employed to care for a locomotive or other large engine; especially, a yard jockey.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Medieval Latinhostilārius
- Old Frenchhostelier
- Middle Frenchhostiler
- Middle Englishhostiler
- Englishhostler
From Middle English hostiler, from Middle French hostiler, from Old French hostelier, from Medieval Latin hostilārius, hospitālārius, from hospitāle "inn", from hospitālis "hospitable", from hospes "host, guest". Both hostler and its alternative form ostler originally meant simply "innkeeper", and acquired a specific association with horses in the second half of the 14th century. Doublet of hosteler and hotelier.
More words from Middle English, Middle French, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic سَائِس
- سَائِس (sāʔis)person at an inn who looks after horses
Bulgarian коняр
- коняр (konjar)person at an inn who looks after horses
Czech podkoní, stájník
- podkoníperson at an inn who looks after horses
- stájníkperson at an inn who looks after horses
Dutch staljongen
- staljongenperson at an inn who looks after horses
Finnish tallirenki
- tallirenkiperson at an inn who looks after horses
French palefrenier
- palefrenierperson at an inn who looks after horses
German Stalljunge, Stallknecht
- Stalljungeperson at an inn who looks after horses
- Stallknechtperson at an inn who looks after horses
Hebrew סַיָּס
- סַיָּס (sayás)person at an inn who looks after horses
Latin agāsō
- agāsōperson at an inn who looks after horses
Polish stajenny, parowozowy
- stajennyperson at an inn who looks after horses
- parowozowyperson employed to care for a locomotive
Russian ко́нюх, ремонтный слесарь
- ко́нюхperson at an inn who looks after horses
- ремонтный слесарь (remontnyj slesarʹ)person employed to care for a locomotive
Swedish värdshusvärd, underhållsarbetare
- värdshusvärdperson at an inn who looks after horses
- underhållsarbetareperson employed to care for a locomotive
Turkish seyis, makinist
- seyisperson at an inn who looks after horses
- makinistperson employed to care for a locomotive
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with hostler
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
hostler. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hostler
“hostler.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hostler. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hostler,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hostler.
Source: hostler on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.