▪ I. hostess, n.
(ˈhəʊstɪs)
Forms: α. 3–7 ostesse, (5 ostes, 7 oastess). β. 4 hoostesse, 4–6 hostes, 4–7 hostesse, 6–7 hostis, 7– hostess.
[a. OF. ostesse (12th c. in Littré), mod.F. hôtesse, f. (h)oste host n.2: see -ess.]
1. A woman that lodges and entertains guests.
| c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 2496 Phyllis, Ostesse [v.rr. hostesse, ostes] thyn quod she O demophon Thyn Philis whiche that is so wo begon. 1589 Hay any Work 48 He has also a charge to prouide for, his hostesse and cosin. 1592 Warner Alb. Eng. viii. xlii. 19 Thanks, and welcome too, he sayd Unto his Oste and Ostesse. 1598 Barnfield Pecunia xxi, Your Hostis pressently will step in Place. 1605 Shakes. Macb. i. vi. 10 See, see, our honor'd Hostesse. 1632 T. Deloney Thomas of Reading xi. (ed. 6) H j b, Beholding his Oast and Oastesse earnestly. 1808 Pike Sources Mississ. iii. 235 At one o'clock we bid adieu to our friendly hostess. 1880 Mrs. Forrester Roy & V. I. 28 ‘Come and look at the conservatory’, smiled his hostess. |
| fig. 1402 Hoccleve Letter of Cupid 461 O womman that of wertu art hostesse. |
2. spec. a. A woman who keeps a public place of lodging and entertainment; the mistress of an inn. Also in archaic
phr. mine hostess.
| c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 325/96 Þare-with heo fedde hire swiþe wel and hire ostesse al-so. c 1305 Edmund Conf. 98 in E.E.P. (1862) 73 His ostesce had a dowȝter þer he was at inne. 1375 Barbour Bruce iv. 635 His hostes com rycht till hym thar. 1474 Caxton Chesse 115 Al tho thynges that ben delyuerd to kepe to the hoste or hostessis they ought to be sauf. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 305 Hostesse, clap to the doores: watch to night. 1653 Walton Angler iii. 82 Come Hostis, give us more Ale. 1716 Swift Phillis 98 John is landlord, Phillis hostess: They keep at Staines the Old Blue Boar. 1832 W. Irving Alhambra I. 30 [He] had a good understanding with the brother of mine hostess. 1962 Listener 19 July 113/3 Mine Hostess, as La Locandiera is called in Clifford Bax's otherwise excellent English translation, is one of the dozen or so greatest comedies. |
b. A woman employed to entertain customers at a night-club, etc.; also in derogatory sense: a prostitute.
| 1931 Durante & Kofoed Night Clubs xxi. 190 Joan Sawyer—and what a girl she was!—the foremost dancer and hostess of the day, ran the shows. 1933 New Statesman 18 Mar. 331/2 If a young man dances with a ‘hostess’ he scurries back at the finish. 1937 C. R. Cooper Here's to Crime ix. 189 Women, reaching the dregs, become the ‘hostesses’ in what are known as ‘jukin' joints’. 1959 Economist 11 Apr. 105/2 This question of hostesses is one of the most hotly debated in the night club business. It is also revealing since, broadly speaking, it is a management's policy towards hostesses that determines the standing of a night club. 1963 Listener 7 Feb. 260/3 American Bunny Clubs, with their Freudian fantasy-tease hostesses. 1968 Sunday Times 30 June 5/5 He..got Miss C. to admit..‘that the word hostess is a polite euphemism for prostitute’. 1970 G. Greer Female Eunuch 131 Many a prostitute, whether she calls herself a..hostess, or a common whore, imagines that she is exploiting the male sex. 1970 Guardian 22 Aug. 8/6 The French authorities have been able to organise a traditional Legion recreation centre, whose Somali hostesses are under regular medical supervision. 1972 P. A. Whitney Snowfire (1973) i. 2 Juniper Lodge in the Poconos was looking for an après-ski hostess to help with guests during the evening hours. 1973 Times 30 May 4/3 We were able to call it Europe's biggest hostess service and had an interesting offer of more than 200 girls. |
c. = air hostess; also, a woman similarly employed on a train.
| 1936 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XL. 525 On American aeroplanes for many years now we have had, as part of the staff, ‘hostesses’, young women of 20 to 30 years of age, generally trained nurses, whose duties are to make passengers ‘feel at home’ aloft. 1940 Amer. Speech XV. 213/2 Hostess..now suggests a professional person paid for her services, as the hostess at a hotel, on an airplane, or on pullman cars. 1953 R. Lehmann Echoing Grove 252 She'll be a hostess on a transglobal airline. 1958 Times Lit. Suppl. 17 Oct. 598/4 Illuminating testimonies by hostesses of various air lines. 1970 Times 17 Nov. 19/7 Five years ago..she was one of the first Gatwick hostesses. They're British Rail's answer to an air hostess. |
† 3. A female guest:
cf. host n.2 4.
Obs. rare.
| 1388 Wyclif Exod. iii. 22 A womman schal axe of hir neiȝboresse and of her hoosteesse [1382 gest] siluerne vesselis. |
4. Comb. hostess apron,
hostess dress,
hostess gown,
hostess pyjamas,
hostess robe,
hostess skirt,
hostess trolley.
| 1968 Wanganui (N.Z.) Chron. 15 Nov. 8/3 (winner of competition) *Hostess apron: Mrs. S. 1, Mrs. A. J. M. 2. 1970 N. Armstrong et al. First on Moon xiv. 352 Kate Collins, wearing her mother's pink hostess apron, was passing coffee. |
| 1951 Country Life 16 Nov., The picture or *hostess dress has been re-instated for informal evenings. 1963 Times 27 Feb. 12/5 Sleeveless hostess dresses. 1968 Guardian 30 Apr. 7/1 Full-length hostess dresses, long-sleeved or sleeveless. |
| 1938 ‘E. Queen’ Four of Hearts (1939) x. 143 She looked ravishing in a silver lamé *hostess-gown. 1945 E. Bowen Demon Lover 178 Her cretonne house-coat, the nearest thing to a hostess gown that she had. 1963 M. McCarthy Group v. 92 Instead of a dress, Kay was wearing a cherry-red velvet sleeveless hostess gown. |
| a 1774 Goldsm. tr. Scarron's Comic Rom. (1775) II. 199 She spoke with so grave and *hostess-like a tone. |
| 1945 F. & R. Lockridge Payoff for Banker (1948) vi. 58 Dorian did not have *hostess pyjamas of quite this cut—quite this daring—and would hardly have worn them if she had. 1970 Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 21 Mar. C 2/3 It's time to turn to wearing the long ‘hostess pyjamas’ for seasonal glamour in entertaining. |
| 1964 N.Y. Times 15 Nov. Sect. xi. 9 (Advt.), Button-front *hostess robe of soft fleece. 1966 Mrs. L. B. Johnson White House Diary 6 Aug. (1970) 406, I put on my white hostess robe that Lyndon had bought me in Paris ten years ago and went in to see Luci. She was eating breakfast. |
| 1966 Daily Tel. 19 Dec. 9/4 The kilt that grew—and grew—and grew—becomes the Christmas *hostess skirt that's on view at all the cosiest fireside parties. |
| 1963 Guardian 25 Nov. 6/3 The latest model of the L. G. Hawkins *hostess trolley..in which you can carry four dishes and a joint from the kitchen. |
Hence
ˈhostessship, the office of hostess.
| 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. iv. iv. 72 It is my Fathers will, I should take on mee The Hostesseship o' th' day: you're welcome sir. |
▪ II. hostess, v. (
ˈhəʊstɪs)
[f. the n.] trans. and intr. To be the hostess at (a party, etc.); to act as hostess. So
ˈhostessing vbl. n.| 1928 Sunday Express 6 May 16 She observed herself think that possibly Athene felt political ‘hostessing’ to be her vocation. 1946 Lincoln State Jrnl. 24 Jan., Wednesday was the day of the party which Mrs. Herbert Folsom..hostessed..in honor of Mr. Thomas Mauck. 1951 ‘J. Wyndham’ Day of Triffids xii. 215 She had led one of those fringe careers—modelling dresses,..hostessing for obscure clubs. 1957 J. Frame Owls do Cry xxviii. 123 It will be my first real experience of hostessing to people who really matter. 1961 Spectator 27 Oct. 605 The hell of hostessing is..that one can know..what things make a good hostess and still be quite unable to achieve them. 1962 Aeroplane CII. 229/2 The book..details the growth of the aviation industry. This is vital for anyone interested in ‘Hostessing’, because a proper appreciation of the industry's background is invaluable in assessing the job as a whole and its importance in helping to ‘sell’ the airlines. 1968 C. Nicole Self Lovers ii. 22 Vanessa thought hostessing large political gatherings would grow easier with experience. |