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innkeeper

/ˌɪnˈkipər/
/ˈɪnkipə/
IPA guide

Other forms: innkeepers

An innkeeper is someone who owns or manages an inn. When you arrive at an inn, the innkeeper might be the person who checks you in and gives you a key to your room (and maybe a chocolate on your pillow).

The earliest innkeepers ran inns in Europe during medieval times. These inns provided lodging, food, and a place for travelers to leave their horses, and an innkeeper managed all of these details. Today in the UK, some pubs call themselves inns, so you might find an innkeeper serving pints there, while in the US an inn is almost always a more charming version of a motel, run by an innkeeper.

Definitions of innkeeper
  1. noun
    the owner or manager of an inn
    synonyms: boniface, host
    see moresee less
    types:
    hostess
    a woman innkeeper
    padrone
    an owner or proprietor of an inn in Italy
    victualer, victualler
    an innkeeper (especially British)
    type of:
    patron
    the proprietor of an inn
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