Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—I

Inn

(Anglo-Saxon). Chamber; originally applied to a mansion, like the French hotel. Hence Clifford's Inn, once the mansion of De Clifford; Lincoln's Inn, the mansion of the Earls of Lincoln; Gray's Inn, that of the Lords Gray, etc.

Now, whenas Phoebus, with his fiery waine.
Unto his inne began to draw a pace.

Spenser: Faërie Queene, vi. 3.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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  • Lincoln's Inn - Lincoln's Inn: Lincoln's Inn: see Inns of Court.
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