Etymograph

English

hostile

Hostile comes from Latin hostis ‘enemy’, from Proto-Italic *hostis ‘stranger, guest’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰóstis.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰóstis1‘guest’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*hostis1‘stranger’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhostis2‘enemy’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhostīlis2
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600hostile2
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2021hostile2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin hostis
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English hostile
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2021, Drachinifel: “The Japanese got their attack in first. About ten…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʰóstisWiktionary, Latin hostis‘guest’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*hostisWiktionary, Latin hostis‘stranger’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhostisWiktionary, English hostile‘enemy’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhostīlisWiktionary, English hostile
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600hostileWiktionary, English hostile
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2021hostileWiktionary, English hostile. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2021, Drachinifel: “The Japanese got their attack in first. About ten…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with hostile, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *gʰóstis ‘guest, stranger’

  • guest ← gest ← gestr ← *ᚷᚨᛊᛏᛁᛉ ← *gastiz
  • xenon ← ξένος ← *ksénwos
  • xenia ← ξενῐ́ᾱ ← ξένος ← *ksénwos

9 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

adj Not friendly; appropriate to an enemy; showing the disposition of an enemy; showing ill will and malevolence or a desire to thwart and injure.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “hostile”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin hostis. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʰóstis / hostile