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

hospitality Hospitality is the relationship of a host towards a guest, wherein the host receives the guest with some amount of goodwill and welcome. This includes the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. Louis de Jaucourt, Louis, ...

during it. Host may also refer to:

Places

* Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County * Host Island, in the Wilhelm Archipelago, Antarctica

People

* Jim Host (born 1937), American businessman * Michel Host (1942–2021), French writer *"Host", an author abbreviation in botany for Nicolaus Thomas Host

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 A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...

'' * 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

Music

* H.O.S.T., an influential hip-hop group in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

* ''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 Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

" by Muse

Computing and technology

Host (network) A network host is a computer or other device connected to a computer network. A host may work as a server offering information resources, services, and applications to users or other hosts on the network. Hosts are assigned at least one network ...

, a computer participating in a computer 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 th ...

, mapping hostnames to IP addresses **

host (Unix) host is a simple utility for performing Domain Name System lookups. Origin It was developed by the Internet Systems Consortium (ISC), and is released under the Mozilla Public License 2.0. Modes When applied to a fully qualified domain name (FQ ...

, a 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 provi ...

** Virtual host, hosting multiple domain names on a single server *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 emulates the hardw ...

a host machine runs a virtual machine * UOL HOST, a webhosting service

Groups or formations

Cossack host A Cossack host (; , ''kazachye voysko''), sometimes translated as Cossack army, was an administrative subdivision of Cossacks in the Russian Empire. Earlier the term ''voysko'' ( host, in a sense as a doublet of ''guest'') referred to Cossack o ...

, military formations of Eastern Europe * Hueste, or host, a type of military force in the Iberian Peninsula and France during the Middle Ages *Furious Host or the Wild Hunt, a European folk myth

Religion

Heavenly host The Heavenly host ( ''ṣəḇāʾōṯ'', "armies") refers to the army (or host) of God, as mentioned in Abrahamic texts; the Hebrew and Christian Bibles, and the Quran in particular. The Bible typically describes the Heavenly host as being m ...

, 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, Communion wafer, Sacred host, Eucharistic bread, the Lamb or simply the host (), is the bread used in the Christian ritual of the Eucharist. Along with sacramental wine, it is one of two elements ...

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

Roles

* Host (radio), 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 or hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. It is common for people ...

, the host or announcer on a television show *

Casino host A casino host is employed by a casino to deliver services to gamblers to help ensure that they become loyal patrons. Nature of the work A casino host will usually try their best to please patrons of their casino and will do their best to fulfil ...

*Host, a paid male companion at a

host club A hostess club is a type of night club found primarily in Japan which employs mostly female staff and caters to men seeking drinks and attentive conversation. Host clubs are a similar type of establishment where mostly male staff attend to women. ...

offering conversation and entertainment, primarily in East Asia *

Maître d'hôtel The ; ), 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 waiting staff, welcom ...

(Maître d') or head waiter of a restaurant or hotel * Master of ceremonies *

Talk show host Below is a list of talk show A talk show is a television programming, radio programming or podcast genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk ...

, 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 parasite, parasitic, a mutualism (biology), mutualistic, or a commensalism, commensalist ''guest'' (symbiont). The guest is typically provided with ...

, an organism harboring another organism or organisms on or in itself * Host (psychology), personality as emphasized in treating dissociative identity disorder * Host (astronomy), the interactions and analysis of a star-planet relationship