guest

Definitions

guest is the Germanic twin of host: both descend from the same Proto-Indo-European *ghos-ti- ('stranger, guest'). Latin took the word into host and hospital; the Germanic/Old Norse line took it into guest. So 'host and guest' are the two faces of one ancient word for the stranger you take in.

Why It Means This

It seems strange that guest, a plain English word, belongs with Latinate host and hospital — but they are blood relatives. English inherited the same ancient stranger-word twice: once down the Germanic path (guest, via Old Norse gestr) and once down the Latin–French path (host). The reciprocity is built in: a guest in your house could host you in theirs, which is exactly the back-and-forth bond the original root described.

Common Collocations

• 1.welcome guest欢迎客人
• 2.special guest特邀嘉宾
• 3.paying guest付费房客
• 4.guest of honor贵宾
• 5.invite guests邀请客人

Example Sentences

• 1.

  We invited a few guests over for dinner on Saturday.

• 2.

  The hotel can accommodate up to three hundred guests.

• 3.

  Tonight's special guest is an award-winning author.

• 4.

  Please treat our guests with courtesy and warmth.

Easily Confused

guest vs visitor — every guest is a visitor, but a guest is invited or hosted (a dinner guest, a hotel guest), while a visitor may simply come without that hosting relationship (a museum visitor, a website visitor). Invited/received → guest; just turns up or passes through → visitor.