Hall

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /hɔːl/
• US IPA: /hÉ”l/
• cot-caught IPA: /hÉ‘l/,
• Rhymes: -ɔːl
• Homophones: haul

Origin

From Middle English halle, from Old English heall ("hall, dwelling, house; palace, temple; law-court"), from Proto-Germanic *hallō ("hall"), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- ("to hide, conceal"). Cognate with Scots hall, haw ("hall"), Dutch hal ("hall"), German Halle ("hall"), Swedish hall ("hall"), Icelandic höll ("palace"), Latin cella ("room, cell"), Sanskrit (śā́lā, "house, mansion, hall").

Full definition of hall

Noun

1. A corridor; a hallway.
   The drinking fountain was out in the hall.
• 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, Mr. Pratt's Patients Chapter 13, We tiptoed into the house, up the stairs and along the hall into the room where the Professor had been spending so much of his time.
2. A meeting room.
   The hotel had three halls for conferences, and two were in use by the convention.
3. A manor house (originally because a magistrate's court was held in the hall of his mansion).
   The duke lived in a great hall overlooking the sea.
4. A building providing student accommodation at a university.
   The student government hosted several social events so that students from different halls would intermingle.
5. The principal room of a secular medieval building.
6. (obsolete) Cleared passageway through a crowd.
• Ben Jonson (1572-1637)A hall! a hall!

Derived terms

• great hall
• hall monitor
• hall of fame
• hall of shame