Meaning and Origin
What does the name Hall mean? Keep reading to find the user submitted meanings, dictionary definitions, and more.
Origin and Meaning of Hall
User Submitted Origins
English
80%
German
10%
African
10%
International Interest
Also see international interest
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary
noun Hall
Senses
- A building or room of considerable size and stateliness, used for public purposes; as, Westminster Hall, in London.
- The chief room in a castle or manor house, and in early times the only public room, serving as the place of gathering for the lord's family with the retainers and servants, also for cooking and eating. It was often contrasted with the bower, which was the private or sleeping apartment.
"Full sooty was her bower and eke her hall." [Chaucer.]
Hence, as the entrance from outside was directly into the hall: - A vestibule, entrance room, etc., in the more elaborated buildings of later times.
- Any corridor or passage in a building.
- The chief room in a castle or manor house, and in early times the only public room, serving as the place of gathering for the lord's family with the retainers and servants, also for cooking and eating. It was often contrasted with the bower, which was the private or sleeping apartment.
- A name given to many manor houses because the magistrate's court was held in the hall of his mansion; a chief mansion house.
- A college in an English university (at Oxford, an unendowed college).
- The apartment in which English university students dine in common; hence, the dinner itself; as, hall is at six o'clock.
- Cleared passageway in a crowd; -- formerly an exclamation.(Obs)"A hall! a hall!" [B. Jonson.]synonyms: Entry; court; passage. See Vestibule.
Etymology: OE. halle hal, AS. heal heall; akin to D. hal, OS. & OHG. halla, G. halle, Icel. höll, and prob. from a root meaning, to hide, conceal, cover. See Hell Helmet
Other Dictionary Sources
- A large entrance or reception room or area
- A college or university building containing living quarters for students
- A large building for meetings or entertainment
- A large room for gatherings or entertainment ("lecture hall" and "pool hall")
- A large building used by a college or university for teaching or research ("halls of learning")
- An interior passage or corridor onto which rooms open ("the elevators were at the end of the hall")
- The large room of a manor or castle
- A large and imposing house
- United States astronomer who discovered Phobos and Deimos (the two satellites of Mars) (1829-1907)
- United States explorer who led three expeditions to the Arctic (1821-1871)
- United States chemist who developed an economical method of producing aluminum from bauxite (1863-1914)
- United States child psychologist whose theories of child psychology strongly influenced educational psychology (1844-1924)
- English writer whose novel about a lesbian relationship was banned in Britain for many years (1883-1943)
Wiktionary
The locomotives were named after English and Welsh country houses with 'Hall' in their titles.
- A British and Scandinavian topographic surname for someone who lived in or near a hall.
- A surname of German origin for someone associated with a salt mine.
- An Anglo-Norman surname.
- (Britain, rail transport) Hall class, a class of steam locomotive used on the GWR.
- A surname.
Hall was also found in the following language(s): Cebuano, German, Icelandic, and Luxembourgish