Wiktionary

hostess

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English hostesse, from Middle French hostesse, from Old French ostesce, made up of oste (“host”) + -esce (“feminine marker”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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hostess (plural hostesses)

  1. A female host.
    The host and hostess greeted their guests at the door.
    • 2013 August 10, Lexington, “Keeping the mighty honest”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:
      The [Washington] Post's proprietor through those turbulent [Watergate] days, Katharine Graham, held a double place in Washington’s hierarchy: at once regal Georgetown hostess and scrappy newshound, ready to hold the establishment to account.
  2. A female innkeeper.
  3. Stewardess: a woman steward on an airplane.
  4. A bar hostess or bargirl; a paid female companion offering conversation and in some cases sex.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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hostess (third-person singular simple present hostesses, present participle hostessing, simple past and past participle hostessed)

  1. To host, as a woman.
    • 1975, The Arrow of Pi Beta Phi, volume 92, number 2, page 69:
      Later in January, the alum club hostessed the initiation brunch at the Pi Beta Phi chapter house. It was thrilling to see so many girls with such enthusiasm!
    • 1986 fall, MWC Today, volume 11, number 1, page 21, column 1:
      Over the years she has maintained a close relationship with several former students. Currently, she alternates between visiting and hostessing two in Roanoke and Greenville, N.C., respectively, and is a proud godgrandmother to one’s new baby.
    • 2009, Eireann Corrigan, Accomplice, Frome, Som: The Chicken House, published 2010, →ISBN, page 161:
      Dad and I had left early to make sure to get a booth in the back. But when I got there, Teddy Selander’s older sister was hostessing and she said, ‘You’re meeting Dean West? He’s sitting right over here,’ loud enough for everyone to hear.

Italian

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English hostess.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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hostess f (invariable)

  1. stewardess
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