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Glite Dictionary
mine host

mine host

1 9.9
A man who welcomes and looks after guests at an inn
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : anfitrión
  • When we arrived at the inn, mine host greeted us warmly at the door.

Examples

  • The guests were entertained by mine host, who shared amusing tales of his adventures.

  • Conduct me to mine host.

    Macbeth (1971)

  • In the play, mine host is portrayed as a jovial and welcoming character.

Synonyms

host
vsmine host
762 2.1

A person or organization that welcomes and looks after guests at an event

is specifically a traditional male figure at gatherings or inns
innkeeper
vsmine host
19 3.4

A person who runs a small hotel and looks after guests

is the traditional literary male figure rather than the ordinary manager
host with the most
vsmine host
  • Informal
1 7.4

A person who is very good at having parties and making guests feel welcome

is more the traditional male inn or gathering figure, not party superstar
boniface
vsmine host
  • Archaic
9.9

A person who owns or runs an inn

is the male traditional figure rather than an archaic occupational term
innholder
vsmine host
  • Archaic
9.9

A person who owns or runs an inn

is the traditional male figure used in literary or old texts
hoster
vsmine host
  • Archaic
7.0

A person who welcomes and looks after guests at a party or inn

is the traditional male figure rather than a modern casual entertainer
hotelman
vsmine host
  • Archaic
5.4

A man who owns or runs a hotel

is used for a traditional man at an inn not a hotel owner

Surface Forms

mine host singular
mine hosts plural

Morphology

mine + host

The sense 'my host' or 'the person who hosts us' is directly derivable from combining 'mine' (possessive) with 'host' (one who receives guests). The construction is archaic/literary ("mine" used where modern English uses "my"), but the meaning is compositional and thus accessible to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

Mine host may come from an old use of 'mine' as a form of 'my' before words that started with a vowel, so people used to call the person who ran an inn mine host meaning 'my host'. So today mine host means the man who runs an inn or the main host at a gathering.