{{Short description|Transport worker, either caretaker of horses or yard jockey}} thumb|1827 drawing of an ostler at Keston Cross [[File:DV271 Hastler at Margam.jpg|thumb|Ostler at Margam, 1818]] A '''hostler''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|ɒ|s|l|ər}} or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɒ|s|l|ər}}) or '''ostler''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɒ|s|l|ər}} was traditionally a groom or stableman who was employed in a stable to take care of horses, usually at an inn, in the era of transportation by horse or horse-drawn carriage.<ref name=Merriam>{{cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hostler |title=Hostler – Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary |publisher=Merriam-webster.com |date=2012-08-31 |access-date=2013-03-12}}</ref> In the twentieth century the word came to be used in the railroad industry for a type of train driver in rail yards with switcher locomotives<ref name=Merriam/> or a type of truck driver in similar work with terminal tractors.
==Etymology== The word is spelled "hostler" in American English, but "ostler" in British English. It traces to {{Circa|1386}}, meaning "one who tends to horses at an inn"—and also, occasionally, "innkeeper"—is derived from Anglo-French ''hostiler'' (modern French {{lang|fr|hostelier}}), itself from Medieval Latin {{lang|la|hostilarius}} "the monk who entertains guests at a monastery", from ''hospitale'' "inn" (compare hospital, hospitaller, hospitality).<ref name=Etymology>[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=hostler&searchmode=none EtymologyOnLine – Hostler]</ref> A similar word, {{Lang|es|hostelero}} (innkeeper, the one that took care of a hostal), exists in Spanish.
==Modern uses== According to the ''Dictionary of Occupational Titles'', an ostler in motor transportation is a type of truck driver who directs trucks or tractors at vehicle parking or docking areas to move, position, or park trucks or trailers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.occupationalinfo.org/90/909663010.html |title=909.663-010: HOSTLER (motor trans.) alternate titles: hook-up driver; yard spotter |work=Dictionary Of Occupational Titles |access-date=2013-01-20}}</ref> In the United States railroad industry a hostler is a train driver, a type of railroad engineer who moves locomotives in and out of service facilities.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.occupationalinfo.org/91/910683010.html |title=910.683-010: HOSTLER (r.r. trans.) |work=Dictionary Of Occupational Titles |access-date=2013-01-20}}</ref><ref name=blsgov>{{cite web |title=Rail Transportation Occupations |url=http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos244.htm|publisher=Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor| access-date=19 February 2011}}</ref>
==See also== * Teamster * Groom (profession)
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Wiktionary|hostler|ostler}}
Category:Horse-related professions and professionals Category:Horse management Category:Archaic English words and phrases Category:Rail transport operations Category:Transport occupations
{{job-stub}} {{horse-stub}}