Old English inn dwelling, lodging. In the 13th cent. inn was used to translate Latin hospitium hospice, in the sense ‘residence for students’, surviving in the names of buildings formally used as students’ hostels, notably Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn, two of the four Inns of Court. From the 14th cent. an inn was a public house obliged by the terms of its licence to provide food and accommodation for travellers; in modern use there is no practical difference between a public house and one calling itself an inn