Hostów

Hostów is the genitive plural form of the Polish loanword host, borrowed from English. In Polish texts it is typically used when referring to multiple host devices or systems, especially in technical and IT contexts. The nominative singular is host, the plural nominative is hosty, and the genitive plural is hostów. For example: liczba hostów w sieci (the number of hosts in the network).

In computing and information technology, host refers to a device connected to a network that provides or consumes services, such as a computer, server, or virtual machine. Common phrases include adres hosta (host address), nazwa hosta (host name), and identyfikacja hosta. Polish usage often treats host as a borrowed technical term, and it is frequent in documentation, network diagrams, and configuration guides. The expression na hoście is used to mean on the host system, and hostowy can describe things related to hosts, such as oprogramowanie hostowe (host software) or pliki hosta (host files).

In biology and medicine, the equivalent Polish term for organism that harbors a parasite or from which a pathogen derives sustenance is gospodarz or żywiciel. The English word host, and by extension hostów in the genitive plural, appears mainly in bilingual or specialized scientific texts; in standard Polish, native terminology is usually preferred.

Notes: Hostów should not be confused with goście, the Polish word for guests. The two terms belong to different semantic fields and are not interchangeable. In general Polish usage, host is primarily a technical term in IT and networking, with broader, less frequent usage in biology or event hosting.