Definitions

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Class. Antiq.) A house for the reception of strangers.
  • noun In the Middle Ages, a room in a monastery for the reception and entertainment of strangers and pilgrims, and for the relief of paupers. [Called also Xenodocheion.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A room (or separate guesthouse) in a monastery for the temporary accommodation of guests or pilgrims.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin from Ancient Greek ξενοδοχεῖον (ksenodokheion, "place for strangers, inn") from ξένος (ksenos, "guest, stranger, foreigner") + δέχομαι (dekhomai, "receive, accept")

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