Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective rare
Friendly tostrangers .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From Ancient Greek ξενοδοχή (xenodochē, "strangers' banquet") + -al
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Examples
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reesetee commented on the word xenodochial
(Obsolete) Given to receiving strangers; hospitable.
February 12, 2008
mollusque commented on the word xenodochial
I don't think xenodochial is obsolete, just rare. (It's also a good description of Wordie.) Here are a couple of instances:
Now xenophobia, the fear of strangers, is not necessarily an evil thing. Exercised in moderation and practiced with malice aforethought, it can be an antidote to xenomania, the extravagant fondness for foreign things which has made both persons and countries look ridiculous, or xenophilism, the love of foreigners, or that occasional failing of our wives, xenodochialism, the capacity for receiving strangers, sometimes described as Southern hospitality.
--Proceedings of the South Caroline Historical Association, 1941
But to prefer Oxford-street to Dove Cottage is too dramatic a shift for De Quincey to make without mediation; Ann's body...glosses the brute reality of this preference, this instance of xenodochial pleasure.
--Rajani Sudan, 2002, Fair Exotics: Xenophobic Subjects in English Literature, 1720-1850
February 12, 2008
reesetee commented on the word xenodochial
Thanks, mollusque. Apparently it isn't obsolete, then. I've been marking words that way based on OED classifications--so I guess we ought to let those guys know, huh? :-)
Anyway, the list I have it on includes rarities as well as obsolete words, so it's in a good home.
February 12, 2008