hostel

[ hos-tl ]

noun

1. Also called youth hostel. an inexpensive, supervised lodging place for young people on bicycle trips, hikes, etc.
2. (formerly) a residence for the exclusive use of boarding Indigenous students, separate from but close to any of a series of day schools in northern Canada that were operated or funded by the federal government and were themselves open to students of any ethnicity. residential school ( def 2 ).
3. British. a student residence at a university or boarding school.
4. an inn.

verb (used without object)

, hos·teled, hos·tel·ing or (especially British) hos·telled, hos·tel·ling.

1. to travel, lodging each night at a hostel.

hostel

/ ˈhɒstəl /

noun

1. a building providing overnight accommodation, as for the homeless, etc
2. See youth hostel
   See youth hostel
3. a supervised lodging house for nurses, workers, etc
4. See hostelry
   archaic.
   another word for hostelry

Word History and Origins

Origin of hostel¹

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English (h)ostel, from Old French, from Late Latin hospitāle “guest room”; hospital

Word History and Origins

Origin of hostel¹

C13: from Old French, from Medieval Latin hospitāle hospice; see hospital

Example Sentences

On many thru-hiking trails, there is often relatively easy and semi-frequent access to towns with outfitters or even hiker boxes of left-behind items at hostels and stations.

From Popular-Science

For scale, only 500 local residents still live in Dubrovnik’s old town, the rest of its warren of buildings are Airbnb lets or hostels.

From The Daily Beast

Found in hostels, shops, post offices, laundromats, and other businesses along the trail, hiker boxes contain anything the last hikers to come through had too much of—from socks to stove fuel to sunscreen to food.

From Outside Online

The children of Indigenous San people, also known as Bushmen, often live in remote communities, and the government provides schools with hostels for their children so they can get an education.

From Ozy

Ron Limb, 54, the hostel’s owner, was home in bed, awakened by a call from someone at the hostel.

From Washington Post

But, still, week after week, Addison lived in a Dili hostel waiting for the rusty wheels of Timorese justice to set her free.

From The Daily Beast

They drove through France before settling in Spain, where they rented rooms in a hostel in Malaga.

From The Daily Beast

This is a new kind of hostel for a new generation of traveller.

From The Daily Beast

On the other hand, I suspect that hostel also forbade alcohol and cigarettes too, right?

From The Daily Beast

Sanclemente went on the lam before being arrested in a Buenos Aires student hostel in May of that year.

From The Daily Beast

The name "Students' Hostel," written on a large poster placed at the gate, attracted my attention and I rang the doorbell.

From Project Gutenberg

Before leaving the Hostel I was invited into a garden gay with roses and carnations and the merry voices of happy girls.

From Project Gutenberg

The programs are made up by professionals and students of the Hostel who are studying music.

From Project Gutenberg

If you find neatness at an hostel, it is kept by old-country people.

From Project Gutenberg

Then you saw a sleighing party in the country, and soon a hostel of goodly size.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• hotel
• inn