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Definition of inn noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

inn

noun
 
/ɪn/
 
/ɪn/
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  1. (British English, old-fashioned) a pub, usually in the country and often one where people can stay the night see also coaching inn
    • It was very warm in the inn.
    • We had dinner at the inn.
    • This 17th-century thatched inn is in one of Devon's most picturesque locations.
    Topics Buildingsc1, Holidaysc1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • local
    • country
    • old
    verb + inn
    • stay at
    • stay in
    • own
    See full entry
  2. (North American English) a small hotel, usually in the country
    • We stayed at a country inn.
    Topics Buildingsc1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • local
    • country
    • old
    verb + inn
    • stay at
    • stay in
    • own
    See full entry
  3. Inn
    used in the names of many pubs, hotels and restaurants
    • Holiday Inn
    see also motor inn
  4. Word OriginOld English (in the sense ‘dwelling place, lodging’): of Germanic origin; related to in. In Middle English the word was used to translate Latin hospitium (see hospice), denoting a house of residence for students: this sense is preserved in Britain in the names of some buildings formerly used for this purpose, notably Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn, two of the Inns of Court, which are the four organizations in England with the authority to allow lawyers to become barristers. The current sense dates from late Middle English.
See inn in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
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