hospitium

[ ho-spish-ee-uhm ]

noun

, plural hos·pi·ti·a [ho-, spish, -ee-, uh].

1. a hospice.

Word History and Origins

Origin of hospitium¹

1640–50; < Latin: hospitable reception, entertainment, place of entertainment, equivalent to hospit- (stem of hospes ) host, guest, stranger + -ium -ium

Example Sentences

The general tourist could chose from four classes of hotel, from the hospitium—which not only offered bedrooms and a full dinner service, but also had rooms that could be hired out for private functions—down to the stabula, the horse equivalent of a truck stop.

From Wall Street Journal

“Hospice” stems from the Latin word hospitium, meaning “hospitality.”

From Washington Times

During the Middle Ages religious orders had employed the term - from the Latin "hospitium", meaning a lodging or inn - for shelters they established at important crossroads on the way to religious shrines.

From BBC

Plautus calls an entertainment free from these despicable guests, Hospitium sine muscis.

From Project Gutenberg

Public hospitium seems also to have existed among the Italian races; but the circumstances of their history prevented it from becoming so important as in Greece.

From Project Gutenberg