- hostel (n.)
- early 13c., "inn, house of entertainment," from Old French ostel, hostel "house, home, dwelling; inn, lodgings, shelter" (11c., Modern French hôtel), from Medieval Latin hospitale "inn; large house" (see hospital). Obsolete after 16c., revived 1808, along with hostelry by Sir Walter Scott. Youth hostel is recorded by 1931.
