Herberour

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who provides a place to stay or shelter for travelers ; an official sent ahead of a royal household to arrange lodgings
2. Someone who offers housing or refuge to guests ; a servant dispatched in advance to secure accommodation for a traveling court
3. One who takes in and sustains visitors with lodging ; a forerunner who went ahead of a noble party to prepare its quarters

Etymology: Herberour is a Middle English noun meaning someone who provides lodging, a host or innkeeper, and it is the older form of "harbinger." The word came into English from Old French "herbergeor," which itself descended from "herberge," meaning shelter or lodging. That French root traces back to Old High German "heriberga," built from "hari," army, and "berga," shelter, so the earliest sense was a place where an army could camp. The surprise is what happened next. The official who went ahead of a royal or military party to find and mark lodgings was also called a herberour, and this figure gradually turned into the messenger who announces an arrival. Over time the word's sense narrowed from the person who housed travellers to the one who runs ahead of them, and the spelling shifted to "harbinger."

Synonyms: host, innkeeper, harbinger