PERMANENT SOURCE RECORD
ALL SOURCES ↗BIBLIOGRAPHIC IDENTITYmw-hostile
SOURCE
RECORD.
One work. Every claim that depends on it. No citation without a consequence you can inspect.
9 PUBLIC LINKS INTO THE GRAPH.
This count excludes duplicate dossier-path citations. Open the claims below to see exactly how the source is used.
historical dictionarymw-hostile
Hostile — Word History
- AUTHOR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
- YEAR
- 2026
- PUBLISHER
- Merriam-Webster
- DOI
- Not recorded
- SOURCE TYPE
- historical dictionary
- EXTERNAL RECORD
- OPEN ORIGINAL ↗
010
CONTRARIAN TRUTH CLAIMS
RANKED REVEALS THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
No ranked contrarian reveal currently cites this source.
021
SCHOLARLY DISAGREEMENT
DISPUTE POSITIONS THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
resolvedcontextprobable
How did a reciprocal stranger become an enemy?
Early Latin hostis referred to a foreigner or legally recognized outsider before later Roman usage restricted it to a hostile outsider or enemy.
Latin hostisSupplies the Latin lexical and derivational path into hostile.
034
CANONICAL RELATIONSHIP CLAIMS
EDGES THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
EDGE 130supportsestablished
hostile → hostile
Present-Day English → Middle French · mixed borrowing
- SOUND
- English hostile was borrowed through Middle French while also drawing directly on Latin hostīlis.
- MEANING
- The enemy-related adjective entered English without a major semantic shift.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster editors
Middle French and Latin borrowingEDGE 131supportsestablished
hostile → hostīlis
Middle French → Latin · borrowing
- SOUND
- Middle French hostile was borrowed from Latin hostīlis with minimal learned-form adaptation.
- MEANING
- The meaning remained “of or characteristic of an enemy.”
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster editors
Middle French from Latin hostīlisEDGE 132supportsestablished
hostīlis → hostis
Latin → Latin · derivation
- SOUND
- Latin hostīlis is formed from hostis with the relational adjective suffix -īlis.
- MEANING
- The noun “enemy” becomes the adjective “enemy-like” or hostile.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster · American Heritage editors
hostis plus -īlisEDGE 133supportsprobable
hostis → *ghos-ti-
Latin → Proto-Indo-European · inheritance
- SOUND
- Latin hostis continues *ghos-ti-; the inherited word first denoted a foreigner or stranger and later narrowed to an enemy.
- MEANING
- The reciprocal or legally recognized outsider becomes the hostile outsider and enemy as Roman usage changes.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster · American Heritage Indo-European Roots · University of Texas LRC
Latin hostis041
LEXICAL ATTESTATIONS
WITNESSES REPORTED BY THIS SOURCE
hostileSOURCE-REPORTED
hostile
English lexicographic first-use record for hostile
OPEN WITNESS 37 ↗051
COMPARATIVE EVIDENCE
COGNATES, DESCENDANTS, AND RELATIVES
hostis
Latindirect derivational base
062
GEOGRAPHIC AND TEMPORAL CLAIMS
JOURNEY STAGES THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
stage 3supports
Middle French and learned Latin hostile
Traces English hostile through Middle French and Latin hostīlis, analyzing hostīlis from hostis “enemy” plus -īlis.
Word History: Etymology · broadstage 4supports
English-language hostile senses
Documents enemy-related, unfriendly, oppositional, environmental, legal, and corporate senses and reports 1580 as the first known English use.
Definitions and Word History: First Known Use · broad070
NON-GENEALOGICAL CONNECTIONS
HISTORICAL CONTEXT, KEPT SEPARATE
No non-genealogical context link currently cites this source.
081
WORD-FAMILY REUSE
DOSSIERS THAT DEPEND ON THIS SOURCE
4 entry-scoped citations map reviewed dossier paths onto the canonical claims above.