advb. phr. and sb. Also 1 æt hám, 3 atom. [See AT and HOME.]
A. advb. phr.
1. At one’s home, in one’s own house.
a. 1000. Beowulf, 2500. Ge æt hám ʓe on herʓe.
c. 1225. St. Margarete, 180. Þe were betere habbe bileued atom.
1483. Caxton, G. de la Tour, E j b. Ryote and noyse shalle all day be at home.
1711. Steele, Spect., No. 24, ¶ 6. The Misfortune of never finding one another at home.
1840. Dickens, Old C. Shop, vi. There was only Mrs. Quilp at home.
b. Prepared to receive visitors, accessible to callers.
1829. Warren, Diary Physic., xix. The servant brought up the cards of several of his late colleagues. ‘Not at home, sirrah! Harkee—ill—ill,’ thundered his master.
1880. Etiq. of Good Soc., 103. In the country a bride’s first appearance in church is taken as a sign that she is ‘At home.’
1883. J. Hatton, in Harper’s Mag., Nov., 830/2. The President makes it a point to be ‘at home’ on Sunday afternoons.
2. (As opposed to ABROAD): a. In one’s immediate neighborhood, near at hand. b. In one’s own country.
c. 885. K. Ælfred, Oros., I. x. § 3. Oþer æt ham beon heora lond to healdanne.
1594. Shaks., Rich. III., I. i. 134. No newes so bad abroad as this at home.
1884. Daily News, 5 Feb., 4/8. Everything … done by the Government at home and abroad.
3. At ease, as if in one’s own home. Hence fig. Thoroughly familiar or conversant with, well-practised in. Hence also At-homeish, -ly, -ness, at-home-ness, etc.
1840. Dickens, Old C. Shop, vi. That kind of acting had been rendered familiar to him by long practice, and he was quite at home in it.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. 365. They never felt themselves at home in our island.
Mod. His genial manner made me feel quite at home with him.
1843. Lever, J. Hinton, I. 135. Whose … indescribable air of at-homeishness bespoke them as the friends of the family.
1880. Dimplethorpe, II. 66. What an air of at-home-ness there was about her.
B. sb. A reception of visitors, for whose entertainment the host or hostess, or both, have announced that they will be ‘At home’ during certain hours, in the course of which the visitors may call and leave as they please.
1745. H. Walpole, Lett. G. Montagu, 12. Lady Granville, and the dowager Strafford have their At-home’s, and amass company.
1883. J. Hatton, in Harper’s Mag., Nov., 844/2. Among the notable ‘at homes’ of London … are the Tuesdays at Mr. Alma-Tadema’s.
