# hostis
## Latin
### Alternative forms

* ostis (Late Latin, Medieval Latin)
* fostis (rare)
* ost (Medieval Latin, rare)

### Etymology

From Proto-Italic *hostis, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰóstis (“guest, stranger”), whence also Proto-Germanic *gastiz (English guest) and Proto-Slavic *gostь. Varro (de lingua latina 5.4) confirms this: tum eō verbō dīcēbant peregrīnum [...], nunc dīcunt eum quem tum dīcēbant perduellem. ("Back then this word meant a stranger, today it means the same as perduellis - an enemy of the state.").

### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /ˈhos.tis/, [ˈhɔs̠t̪ɪs̠]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈos.tis/, [ˈɔst̪is]

### Noun

hostis m or f (genitive hostis); third declension
* an enemy of the state, a hostile
    Synonyms: inimīcus, perduellis
* (plural only) the enemy

#### Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

#### Derived terms

* hospes
* hosticus

#### Descendants

* Aromanian: oasti
* Asturian: güeste
* Catalan: host
* Old French: ost, host
* → English: host
* → French: ost (revival of the Old French word)
* → Norman: hôt (Pays de Bray)
* → Picard: hôt
* Galician: hoste
* → Irish: óstach
* Italian: oste
* Occitan: òst
* Portuguese: hoste
* Romanian: oaste
* Spanish: hoste, hueste

### References

* “hostis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* “hostis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
* hostis in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
* hostis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
* Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co. to cut one's way (through the enemies' ranks): ferro viam facere (per confertos hostes) the foe is at our heels, is upon us: hostis in cervicibus alicuius est to try one's strength with the enemy; to try issue of battle: periculum hostis facere to cut off all supplies of the enemy: intercludere, prohibere hostes commeatu to surprise and defeat the enemy: opprimere hostes (imprudentes, incautos, inopinantes) to make an inroad into hostile territory: excursionem in hostium agros facere to offer battle to the enemy: potestatem, copiam pugnandi hostibus facere to provoke the enemy to battle: proelio (ad pugnam) hostes lacessere, provocare to not let the enemy escape: hostem e manibus non dimittere to march on the enemy: gradum inferre in hostem to attack the enemy: aggredi hostem to attack the enemy: invadere, impetum facere in hostem to attack the enemy: signa inferre in hostem to rush into the midst of the foe: in medios hostes se inicere to break through the enemy's centre: per medios hostes (mediam hostium aciem) perrumpere to come to close quarters: manum (us) conserere cum hoste to come to close quarters: signa conferre cum hoste to attack the enemy in the front: adversis hostibus occurrere to attack the enemy in the rear: aversos hostes aggredi to attack the enemy in the rear: hostes a tergo adoriri to fight a pitched, orderly battle with an enemy: iusto (opp. tumultuario) proelio confligere cum hoste (Liv. 35. 4) to throw oneself on the enemy with drawn sword: strictis gladiis in hostem ferri to fall upon the enemy's flank: in latus hostium incurrere to surround the enemy from the rear: circumvenire hostem aversum or a tergo (B. G. 2. 26) to be surrounded by the superior force of the enemy: multitudine hostium cingi to be a match for the enemy: parem (opp. imparem) esse hosti to repulse the enemy: pellere hostem the enemy's line is repulsed: acies hostium impellitur to drive the enemy from his position: loco movere, depellere, deicere hostem (B. G. 7. 51) to repel the attack of the enemy's cavalry: summovere or reicere hostium equites to repulse an attack: repellere, propulsare hostem to rout the enemy: prosternere, profligare hostem to put the enemy to flight: in fugam dare, conicere hostem to put the enemy to flight: fugare hostem to rout the enemy's forces: fundere hostium copias to utterly rout the enemy: caedere et fundere hostem to utterly rout the enemy: fundere et fugare hostem to drive the enemy before one: prae se agere hostem to run away from the enemy: terga dare hosti to pursue the enemy: hostes insequi, prosequi to follow up and harass the enemy when in flight: hostes (fusos) persequi to overtake the enemy: hostes assequi, consequi to be on the heels of the enemy: tergis hostium inhaerere to bring the flying enemy to a stand: fugam hostium reprimere (B. G. 3. 14) there was great slaughter of fugitives: magna caedes hostium fugientium facta est to escape from the hands of the enemy: effugere, elābi e manibus hostium to let the enemy escape: dimittere e manibus hostes to rescue some one from the hands of the enemy: eripere aliquem e manibus hostium to inflict a defeat on the enemy: cladem hostibus afferre, inferre to annihilate, cut up the enemy, an army: hostes, exercitum delere, concīdere to absolutely annihilate the enemy: hostes ad internecionem caedere, delere (Liv. 9. 26) to absolutely annihilate the enemy: hostium copias occidione occīdere (Liv. 2. 51) to gain a victory over the enemy: victoriam reportare ab hoste to throw grappling irons on board; to board: in navem (hostium) transcendere
* “hostis”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
* “hostis”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

## Portuguese
### Adjective

hostis
* plural of hostil