Pogost (Russian: погост, from Old East Slavic: погостъ) is a historical term with several meanings in the Russian language. It has also been borrowed into Latgalian (pogosts), Finnish (pogosta) and Latvian (pagasts), with specific meanings. The original usage applies to the coaching inn for princes and ecclesiastics with the word being similar to modern Russian gost' (гость), "guest". It is assumed that originally pogosts were rural communities on the periphery of the ancient Russian state, as well as trading centers (Old Russian: gost'ba, гостьба).