*SET-U

PERMANENT DISPUTE RECORD

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CLAIM / COUNTERCLAIM / LIMITRECORD 47

DISPUTE
RECORD.

One scholarly question. Every attached source. The present editorial state, without pretending the last word has been written.

openprobable

Is hospes securely reduced from *ghos-pot-?

The guest-master compound is a strong published analysis, but the amount of phonetic reduction has led some scholars to question its exact form.

WORD UNDER REVIEWDISPUTE 47

host

/hoʊst/ · noun

A person who receives guests, borrowed through Anglo-French from Latin hospes, a word that could name either side of a reciprocal hospitality relationship.

01

DIRECT CLAIM EVIDENCE

2 SOURCES WITH A STANCE

A citation is not a vote. Each record says whether the work supports, challenges, contradicts, or contextualizes the position—and identifies the exact locus used.

SOURCE 01supportshistorical dictionary

Host — Word History

Publishes *ghosti-pot- while explicitly recording objections to the phonetic reduction.

hospes note and reconstructed compound
AUTHOR / EDITOR
Merriam-Webster Editors
YEAR
2026
PUBLISHER
Merriam-Webster
AUDIT SOURCE USE ↗OPEN ORIGINAL ↗
02 / EDITORIAL STATE

THE QUESTION REMAINS OPEN.

CONFIDENCE
probable
STATUS
open
LEGACY SOURCE SUMMARY
Merriam-Webster publishes the compound while explicitly recording the objection; American Heritage also publishes *ghos-pot-.
WHY NO RESOLUTION

The reviewed evidence does not yet warrant collapsing the competing or incomplete analyses into one secure answer.

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