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[Meaning] a friend.[1]
"Embassies used to come from the cities because they considered him their guest-friend and an adviser on their manner of life and the establishment of temples and images. He set each of these things to rights."[2]
And elsewhere: "[men] create guest-friends in their own countries."[3]
A xenos is also someone who receives strangers.[4] The Apostle [says]: "my friend the xenos greets you."[5]

*ce/nos: o( fi/los. e)foi/twn de\ presbei=ai e)k tw=n po/lewn ce/non te au)to\n h(gou/menoi kai\ bi/ou su/mboulon bwmw=n te i(dru/sews kai\ a)galma/twn. o( de\ e(/kasta tou/twn diwrqou=to. kai\ au)=qis: e)n tai=s i)di/ais patri/si ce/nous poiou=ntai. *ce/nos kai\ o( cenodo/xos. o( *)apo/stolos: a)spa/zetai u(ma=s ce/nos o( fi/los mou.

[1] The Greek vocabulary, hard to match in English, is xenos glossed with philos.
[2] An approximation of Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana 4.1.
[3] Quotation not identified by Adler, but identifiable via the TLG as Hermippus ap. Diogenes Laertius 1.102: an anecdote about Anacharsis (alpha 2130) arriving in Athens in the early C6 BCE, requesting guest-friendship with Solon, and -- at first -- getting the brush-off with this remark.
[4] cf. generally xi 40, xi 58.
[5] Ep. Romans 16.23, which actually reads "Gaius my xenos greets you."

Catharine Roth (supplied headword translation, note) on 1 June 2002@00:57:56.
Catharine Roth (modified translation) on 2 June 2002@00:01:13.
David Whitehead (supplied notes; added keyword; cosmetics) on 3 June 2002@04:05:07.
David Whitehead (another keyword) on 4 October 2005@09:06:51.
David Whitehead (augmented notes and keywords; tweaks and cosmetics; raised status) on 29 August 2007@09:02:22.
David Whitehead (source identification) on 11 April 2011@05:17:25.
David Whitehead (another note; tweaking) on 19 June 2013@03:17:43.

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