Inn

[A-S. inne, inn, house, chamber, inn; Icel. inni, house.] 1. A place of shelter; also, habitation; residence; abode. [Obs.] Therefore with me ye may take up your inn For this same night. Spenser. 2. A house for the lodging and entertainment of travelers; a tavern; a public house; a hotel. “The miserable fare and miserable lodgment of a provincial inn.” W. Irving. ☞ It has been judicially defined as a house where a traveler is furnished with every thing for which he has occasion when on his way. Bouvier. New Am. Cyc.

3. One of the four colleges of students of law, and also one of the buildings in which students at law have their lodgings; as, Lincoln’s Inn; Gray’s Inn; — so called as being lodging-houses. [Eng.]
4. The town house or residence of a nobleman or distinguished person; as, Leicester Inn. [Eng.] [Obs.]

Inns of chancery, colleges in which young students formerly began their law studies. These are now occupied chiefly by attorneys, solicitors, &c. — Inns of court, colleges in which students of law reside and are instructed. The principal are the Inner Temple, the Middle Temple, Lincoln’s Inn, and Gray’s Inn. The four law societies of these inns exercise the right of admitting persons to practice at the bar. Wharton.