A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing

hospitality Hospitality is the relationship between a guest and a host, wherein the host receives the guest with some amount of goodwill, including the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. Louis de Jaucourt, Louis, chevalier de J ...

during it. Host may also refer to:

Places

Host, Pennsylvania Host is one of many unincorporated communities that dot the agriculture-covered landscape of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The village is located in southeastern Tulpehocken Township, along Pennsylvania Route 419. Education Child ...

, a village in Berks County

People

* Jim Host (born 1937), American businessman *

Michel Host Michel Host (1942 – 6 June 2021Nicolaus Thomas Host Nicolaus Thomas Host (December 6, 1761 in Fiume, now Rijeka – January 13, 1834 in Schönbrunn) was a Croatian botanist and the personal physician of Holy Roman Emperor Francis II. His botanical works include ''Synopsis plantarum in Austria ...

Arts, entertainment, and media

Fictional entities

* Hosts (''World of Darkness''), fictional characters in game ''Werewolf: The Forsaken'' *Hosts, alien invaders and overlords in the TV series ''

Colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the ''metropole, metropolit ...

'' * Armies and hosts of Middle-earth warfare, fictional entities in

J.R.R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works '' The Hobbit'' and '' The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Ra ...

's works * Avenging Host, a group of characters in Marvel Comics' ''Earth X'' series of comic books * Rutan Host, fictional aliens from ''Doctor Who''

Film

* ''Host'' (film), a 2020 horror film directed by Rob Savage

Literature

*''Host'', the third novel in the Rogue Mage series by Faith Hunter *''Host'', a 1993 book by Peter James * ''Hosts'' (novel), a 2001 book written by American author F. Paul Wilson *''

The Hosts of Rebecca ''Hosts of Rebecca'' is a novel by Alexander Cordell, first published in 1960. It is the second in Cordell's "Mortymer Trilogy", followed by '' Song of the Earth''. Cordell's style and subject matter are reminiscent of Richard Llewellyn's ''How ...

'', a 1960 novel by Alexander Cordell about the Rebecca Riots

Music

H.O.S.T. H.O.S.T. was an influential Azerbaijani hip hop group, based in Baku. The group's name derives from abbreviations of the classical elements in Azerbaijani language, which means hava (air), od (fire), su (water) and torpaq (earth). The group w ...

, an influential hip-hop group in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

* ''Host'' (Critters Buggin album), 1996 * ''Host'' (Paradise Lost album), 1999 * ''Host'' (Cults album), 2020 *"Host", a song from the b-side of the 1999 single "

Cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

" by Muse

Computing and technology

* Host (network), a computer connected to the Internet or another IP-based network **

hosts (file) The computer file hosts is an operating system file that maps hostnames to IP addresses. It is a plain text file. Originally a file named HOSTS.TXT was manually maintained and made available via file sharing by Stanford Research Institute for ...

, a computer file to be used to store information on where to find an internet host on a computer network ** host (Unix), a command-line Unix command **

Internet hosting service An Internet hosting service is a service that runs servers connected to the Internet, allowing organizations and individuals to serve content or host services connected to the Internet. A common kind of hosting is web hosting. Most hosting prov ...

, a service that runs Internet servers allowing organizations and individuals to serve content to the Internet ** Virtual host, allowing several DNS names to share the same IP address *Host, in

hardware virtualization Hardware virtualization is the virtualization of computers as complete hardware platforms, certain logical abstractions of their componentry, or only the functionality required to run various operating systems. Virtualization hides the physic ...

, a machine on which a virtual machine runs * Cross compiler, also called a "host", a computer platform on which software development is done for a different target computer platform * UOL HOST, Universal Online's HOST webhosting service

Groups or formations

* Host, an archaic military term for an

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

* Host, a great number;

multitude Multitude is a term for a group of people who cannot be classed under any other distinct category, except for their shared fact of existence. Though its use dates back to antiquity, the term first entered into the lexicon of political philosophy w ...

* Cossack host, military formations of Eastern Europe *Furious Host or the

Wild Hunt The Wild Hunt is a folklore motif (Motif E501 in Stith Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature) that occurs in the folklore of various northern European cultures. Wild Hunts typically involve a chase led by a mythological figure escorted by ...

, a European folk myth

Religion

Heavenly host Heavenly host ( he, צבאות ''sabaoth'' or ''tzva'ot'', "armies") refers to the army () of angels mentioned both in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles, as well as other Jewish and Christian texts. The Bible gives several descriptions of angels ...

, an "army" of good angels in Heaven * Lord of hosts, a common epithet of the God of the Old Testament *

Sacramental bread Sacramental bread, also called Communion bread, Eucharistic bread, the Lamb or simply the host ( la, hostia, lit=sacrificial victim), is the bread used in the Christian ritual of the Eucharist. Along with sacramental wine, it is one of two elemen ...

, called the host or ''hostia'', used in Christian liturgy

Roles

Host (radio) A radio personality (American English) or radio presenter (British English) is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host, and in India and Pakistan as a radi ...

, the presenter or announcer on a radio show *

Television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for people who garner ...

, the host or announcer on a television show * Casino host *Host, a paid male companion at a host club offering conversation and entertainment, primarily in East Asia *

Maître d'hôtel The ''maître d'hôtel'' (; ), head waiter, host, waiter captain, or ''maître d ( , ) manages the public part, or "front of the house", of a formal restaurant. The responsibilities of a ''maître d'hôtel'' generally include supervising the ...

(Maître d') or head waiter of a restaurant or hotel * Master of ceremonies * Talk show host, a presenter of a TV or radio talk show

Science

Host (biology) In biology and medicine, a host is a larger organism that harbours a smaller organism; whether a parasitic, a mutualistic, or a commensalist ''guest'' (symbiont). The guest is typically provided with nourishment and shelter. Examples include ...

, an organism harboring another organism or organisms on or in itself *

Host (psychology) In psychology and mental health, the host is the most prominent personality, state, or identity in someone who has dissociative identity disorder (DID)Dissociative Identity Disorder. (2008). In L. J. Fundukian & J. Wilson (Eds.), ''The Gale Enc ...

, personality as emphasized in treating dissociative identity disorder * Host (astronomy), the interactions and analysis of a star-planet relationship