[host] n [ME, fr. OF, fr. LL hostis, fr. L, stranger, enemy--more at guest] (14c) 1: army
2: a very large number: multitude
[2]host vi (15c): to assemble in a host usu. for a hostile purpose [3]host n [ME hoste host, guest, fr. OF, fr. L hospit-, hospes, prob. fr. hostis] (14c) 1 a: one that receives or entertains guests socially, commercially, or officially b: one that provides facilities for an event or function "our college served as ~ for the basketball tournament"
2. a: a living animal or plant affording subsistence or lodgment to a parasite b: the larger, stronger, or dominant member of a commensal or symbiotic pair c: an individual into which a tissue, part, or embryo is transplanted from another
3: a mineral or rock that is older than the minerals or rocks in it; also: a substance that contains a usu. small amount of another substance incorporated in its structure
4: a radio or television emcee
5: a computer that controls communications in a network that administers a database [4]host vt (15c) 1: to serve as host to, at, or for "~ friends" "~ a dinner"
2: emcee "~ed a series of TV programs" [5]host n, often cap [ME hoste, oste, fr. MF hoiste, fr. LL & L; LL hostia Eucharist, fr. L, sacrifice] (14c): the eucharistic bread