- host (1)
- "person who receives guests," late 13c., from O.Fr. hoste "guest, host" (12c.), from L. hospitem (nom. hospes) "guest, host," lit. "lord of strangers," from PIE *ghostis- "stranger" (cf. O.C.S. gospodi "lord, master," Goth. gasts, O.E. gæst "guest"). The biological sense of "animal or plant having a parasite" is from 1857. The verb is early 15c., from the noun. Hostess is attested from late 13c.
- host (2)
- "multitude" 1265, from O.Fr. host "army" (10c.), from M.L. hostis "army, war-like expedition," from L. hostis "enemy, stranger," from the same root as host (1). Replaced O.E. here, and has in turn been largely superseded by army. The generalized meaning of "large number" is first attested 1613.
- host (3)
- "body of Christ, consecrated bread," c.1300, from L. hostia "sacrifice," also "the animal sacrificed," applied in Church L. to Christ; probably ult. related to host (1) in its root sense of "stranger, enemy."