Hospitality

Hospitality is the connection that exists between a guest and a host in which the host extends some measure of kindness to the guest. It includes the welcome and entertaining of guests, visitors, and strangers. In the Encyclopédie, Louis, chevalier de Jaucourt characterises hospitality as the virtue of a noble spirit that cares for the whole cosmos via the links of humanity that bind people together. Hospitality may also refer to the way individuals treat one another, such as the service of welcome and receiving visitors at a hotel, for example. The ability of a company to increase or reduce its sales volume is directly related to its level of hospitality.

Hospitality ethics is a field that investigates how people use hospitality in their daily lives.

The word hospes comes from the Latin hospes, which means "host," "guest," or "foreign." It derives from the Greek word hostis, which meant "stranger" or "enemy" (the latter being where terms like "hostile" derive). By metonymy, the Latin term hospital refers to a guest-chamber, a guest-lodging, or an inn, among other things. As a result, the Greek terms host and hostis are the origins of the English words host, hospitality, hospice, hostel, and hotel.