Host

In short: A host is a device in a network that has an address and can send or receive data, for example a computer, a server or a phone.

In more detail: The word is used in several contexts that all mean “the one who hosts”:

In Depth

• Network host: any device with an IP address. The part of the address that identifies the single device is called the host portion (as opposed to the network portion, see subnet mask).
• Hostname: the name of the device on the network, e.g. server01 or www.example.com (hostnames).
• Virtualisation: the host is the real machine on which virtual machines (guests) run.
• Web host: a provider where a website lives, see hosting.
• Local: your own computer is called localhost.

See also: client, server