guest house
[OE. ᵹiest-h{uacu}s = Du. gasthuis, G. gasthaus: see guest n. and house.]
† 1. An inn. Obs.
| c 1000 Apollonius (1834) 18 Gan we secean ure ᵹesthus. a 1100 Ags. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 337/8 Hospitium, ᵹæsthus. c 1200 Ormin 7040 Gode menness herrtess..sinndenn þatt haliȝhe gessthus Þatt crist iss borenn inne. |
2. a. A house or apartment for the reception or entertainment of strangers or guests. Also
attrib.| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Mark xiv. 14 Hwar is min ᵹyst-hus [Coverdale gest house, A.V. guest chamber]? c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 2364 Þe thak of his gest house rygg. 1633 T. Stafford Pac. Hib. ii. xiii. (1810) 369 That..had bin in the Ghest-house amongst them. 1844 Lingard Anglo-Sax. Ch. (1858) I. vii. 312 One day a Scot from Connaught..was received at the guest house. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. I. i. 309 Yet is it still the tale I then heard told Within the guest-house of that minster-close. 1883 C. J. Wills Mod. Persia 357 Put up in the guest-house of the shrine. |
† b. A hospital, a poorhouse.
Obs.| 1617 Moryson Itin. ii. ii ii. 171 At Corke we haue prouided a guesthouse for them [the sicke and hurt men]. 1641 Brome Joviall Crew iv. i. Wks. 1873 III. 413 He keeps a Guest-house for all Beggars, far and neer. |
| fig. 1600 Hosp. Incur. Fooles 24 In obscuritie and holes, in this darksome Guest-house of their madnes. |
3. A house for the reception of paying guests.
| 1925 Daily Tel. 13 May 19/4 For Sale, Guest House, South London. 1953 E. Taylor Sleeping Beauty i. 11 That house on the cliff is a guest-house, is it? |