01 n. A place of shelter; hence, dwelling; habitation; residence; abode.
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1.
A place of shelter; hence, dwelling; habitation; residence; abode.[Obs.]“Therefore with me ye may take up your inn For this same night.” — Spenser.
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2.
A house for the lodging and entertainment of travelers or wayfarers; a tavern; a public house; a hotel.“The miserable fare and miserable lodgment of a provincial inn.” — W. Irving.
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3.
The town residence of a nobleman or distinguished person; as, Leicester Inn.[Eng.]
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4.
One of the colleges (societies or buildings) in London, for students of the law barristers; as, the Inns of Court; the Inns of Chancery; Serjeants' Inns.
Phrases & compounds
Inns of chancery —
colleges in which young students formerly began their law studies, now occupied chiefly bp attorneys, solocitors, etc.
Inns of court —
the four societies of “students and practicers of the law of England” which in London exercise the exclusive right of admitting persons to practice at the bar; also, the buildings in which the law students and barristers have their chambers. They are the Inner Temple, the Middle Temple, Lincoln's Inn, and Gray's Inn.