Meanings
plural hostries
- obsoleteA hostelry.First known use 14th–18th c.
And wrapped hym in ſwadlynge cloothes / and layed hym in a manger / be cauſe there was no roume for them with in / in the hoſtrey.
1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Luke ij:[7], folio lxxiiij, verso1 more example
I ſeeing that, tooke him by the legge, and neuer reſted pulling, till I had pull’d me his legge quite off, and now tis at home in mine hoſtrey.
1589–1592 (date written), Ch[ristopher] Mar[lowe], The Tragicall Historie of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus. […], London: […] Iohn Wright, […], published 1616 (1631 reprint), →OCLC, page [54]
Origin
- Old Frenchhosterie
- Englishhostry
From Old French hosterie, from hoste (“host”). Doublet of osteria.
More words from Old French
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
hostry. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hostry
“hostry.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hostry. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hostry,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hostry.
Source: hostry on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.