Inn Meaning
/ɪn/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAny establishment where travellers can procure lodging, food, and drink.
nounA tavern.
Sentence Examples
Hungry and thirsty, we at last reached the inn.
This inn gives good service.
CEFR Practice Quiz
After a long journey, they found a small ____ to rest and eat.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The weary travelers stayed at a cozy ____ in the mountain village for a couple of nights.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English in, inn, from Old English inn (“a dwelling, house, chamber, lodging”); akin to Icelandic inni (“a dwelling place, home, abode”), Faroese inni (“home”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"[H]ow much more agreeable to himself to get into snug quarters in a chateau, [...] rather than take up with the miserable lodgement, and miserable fare of a country inn."
— 1824, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “The Adventure of My Uncle”, in Tales of a Traveller, part 1 (Strange Stories. […]), Philadelphia, Pa.: H[enry] C[harles] Carey & I[saac] Lea, […], →OCLC, page 21:
"One morning I had been driven to the precarious refuge afforded by the steps of the inn, after rejecting offers from the Celebrity to join him in a variety of amusements. But even here I was not free from interruption, for he was seated on a horse-block below me, playing with a fox terrier."
— 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, pages 46–47:
"But nowe ſadde Winter welked hath the day, / And Phœbus weary of his yerely taſ-ke: / Yſtabled hath his ſteedes in lowlye laye / And taken vp his ynne in Fiſhes haſ-ke."
— 1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “Nouember. Ægloga Vndecima.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC, folio 44, verso:
"Therefore with me ye may take vp your In / For this ſame night."
— 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 33, page 12:
"But where do you intend to inn to-night?"
— 1714 March 15 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Addison, “The Free-holder: No. 22. Thursday, March 5. [1714.]”, in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq; […], volume IV, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], published 1721, →OCLC:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
After a long journey, they found a small ____ to rest and eat.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The weary travelers stayed at a cozy ____ in the mountain village for a couple of nights.