inn
noun
a commercial establishment that provides lodging, food, etc., for the public, especially travelers; small hotel.
inn
1 American
[in]
/ ɪn /
noun
-
inns
plural
-
a commercial establishment that provides lodging, food, etc., for the public, especially travelers; small hotel.
- Synonyms:
- hostelry
-
a tavern.
-
(initial capital letter)
-
any of several buildings in London formerly used as places of residence for students, especially law students.
-
a legal society occupying such a building.
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Inn
2
American
[in]
/ ɪn /
noun
inn
1
British
/ ɪn /
noun
-
a pub or small hotel providing food and accommodation
-
(formerly, in England) a college or hall of residence for students, esp of law, now only in the names of such institutions as the Inns of Court
Inn
2
British
/ ɪn /
noun
Synonym Usage
See hotel.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of inn
First recorded before 1000; Middle English, Old English in(n) “house”; akin to Old Norse inni (adverb) “within, in the house”
Explanation
An inn is a place to stay while you're on vacation or on the road. Inns are usually smaller and more charming than hotels, but they serve the same purpose: to give you a place to rest your weary head as you travel. Some inns are more charming versions of hotels, while others use the word inn simply to make them sound more appealing than a motel. The original meaning of inn was "lodging and food for travelers," although today some inns don't have a restaurant or bar attached. If you own or manage an inn, you're an "innkeeper." Inn comes from the Old English inne, "inside or within."
Vocabulary lists containing inn
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It follows years of controversy about what to do with the 17th-Century former inn, where Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler was born in April 1889.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Located on Main Street in an 1897 brick building, this inn, restaurant and saloon originally served as a boardinghouse for Homestake Gold Mine miners.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
Lately, Chahal has been sprucing up the motor inn: new cabinets, new furniture, fresh paint every few months.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2026
The inn has reopened its snack bar for the first time since early 2023, and management is investing in capital upgrades and staging live music on weekends throughout the summer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2026
About ten o’clock we started from the inn.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
The Post Ranch Inn is set to reopen on Wednesday and was “under no imminent threat,” the hotel said on Instagram.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026
On a recent Friday night, Philadelphia’s Trestle Inn welcomed a crowd for a Prince-themed dance party.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
The Dana Point Marina Inn was set to be demolished and replaced by two new hotels on the harbor, though the vote to approve the leases has been postponed to next month.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
Cava, despite the broader company’s stock decline, was still packed with salad-hungry customers; so were Naya and Dig Inn.
From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2026
Helenwood was the size of a thimble, if that, and the Calliope Inn was a historical landmark.
From "Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World" by Ashley Herring Blake
Though made more possible and more desirable by the latest technology, this way of living also recalls the country’s origins, he says, when many otherwise-private homes doubled as de facto inns or outright boardinghouses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
In the midst of this waits Moonstone Beach, often strewn with driftwood, and Moonstone Beach Drive, which is lined by about a dozen inns and boutique hotels.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 1, 2025
The fruits, also known as chequers, were once used to make a type of beer, and are thought by some to have given many UK pubs and inns their names.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2024
By the 18th century, servants at country houses and inns expected these gifts from guests, and sources at the time complained of the cost.
From National Geographic ● Feb. 26, 2024
Since we are fortunate enough to be in a town with lots of inns, we set off to find one.
From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
