What does hospitality mean?
Hospitality means the practice of welcoming, receiving, and treating guests or visitors with friendliness, generosity, and consideration. It can describe a personal quality, as when someone is praised for their hospitality, or a broader cultural habit, such as the hospitality of a community toward travelers. The word also has a commercial meaning: the hospitality industry includes hotels, restaurants, tourism, entertainment, and other services that provide food, lodging, or welcome to customers. In ordinary use, hospitality often carries a warm and generous connotation, suggesting that visitors are valued and made to feel comfortable. The word is related to hospital, hostel, host, and hospitable, reflecting its long history of describing the relationship between someone who receives guests and those who arrive as guests. Because it combines a social idea with a commercial one, hospitality is useful for discussing both personal welcome and the economic activity built around receiving people.
nounThe friendly, generous, and considerate treatment of guests or visitors. In its commercial sense, it refers to the business of providing accommodation, food, entertainment, and related services, especially in hotels, restaurants, and tourism.
- The act or quality of welcoming guests or visitors with friendliness, generosity, and consideration.
- The business of providing accommodation, food, entertainment, or related services to customers, especially in hotels, restaurants, and tourism.
"The inn was known for its warmth and generous hospitality toward travelers."
"Their hospitality made every visitor feel welcome and at home."
"The region has developed a strong hospitality industry focused on small hotels and local cuisine."
Less common than the singular or uncountable form; often used for separate acts or expressions of welcome.
"Their generous hospitalities made the visitors feel at home."
Hospitality literally joins welcoming and sheltering: its Latin ancestor referred both to a guest and to the relationship between host and guest.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does hospitality come from?
Hospitality comes through French from Latin hospitalitas, meaning the welcome or accommodation offered to a guest. The word is connected with Latin hospes, the source of host, hospital, hostel, and hospitable. Historically, hospitality referred not only to generous treatment but also to the act of receiving or lodging a guest, and it retains both social and practical associations today.
Related word forms
How hospitality is actually used
Hospitality is usually used as an uncountable noun for the general quality or practice of welcoming people. The plural “hospitalities” is possible but less common and often suggests separate acts or expressions of welcome. In business contexts, it can refer broadly to the sector serving guests and visitors.