hostess

Middle English hostesse, from Middle French hostesse, from Old French ostesce, made up of oste (“host”) + -esce (“feminine marker”).

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hostess (plural hostesses, masculine host)

1. A female host.

   The host and hostess greeted their guests at the door.

   • 2013 August 10, Lexington, “Keeping the mighty honest”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:

     The [Washington] Post's proprietor through those turbulent [Watergate] days, Katharine Graham, held a double place in Washington’s hierarchy: at once regal Georgetown hostess and scrappy newshound, ready to hold the establishment to account.

2. A female innkeeper.
3. Stewardess: a woman steward on an airplane.
4. A bar hostess or bargirl; a paid female companion offering conversation and in some cases sex.

• hostess trolley

hostess (third-person singular simple present hostesses, present participle hostessing, simple past and past participle hostessed)

1. To host, as a woman.
   • 1975, The Arrow of Pi Beta Phi (volume 92, issue 2, page 69)

     Later in January, the alum club hostessed the initiation brunch at the Pi Beta Phi chapter house. It was thrilling to see so many girls with such enthusiasm!