hall

Inherited from Middle English halle, from Old English heall (“hall, dwelling, house; palace, temple; law-court”), from Proto-West Germanic *hallu, 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”), Norwegian hall (“hall”), Swedish hall (“hall”), Icelandic höll (“palace”), Latin cella (“room, cell”), Sanskrit शाला (śā́lā, “house, mansion, hall”). Doublet of cell and cella.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /hɔːl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /hɔl/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /hɑl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔːl
• Homophone: haul

hall (plural halls)

1. A corridor; a hallway.

   The drinking fountain was out in the hall.

   • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter XIII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

     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 large 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.

   • c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:

     But Kate, the prettiest Kate in Christendome, Kate of Kate-hall.

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, as for dancing.
   • 1633 (first performance), Ben Jonson, “A Tale of a Tub. A Comedy […]”, in The Works of Beniamin Jonson, […] (Third Folio), London: […] Thomas Hodgkin, for H[enry] Herringman, E. Brewster, T. Bassett, R[ichard] Chiswell, M. Wotton, G. Conyers, published 1692, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     Then cry, a hall, a hall! Come, father Rosin, with your fiddle now.

7. A place for special professional education, or for conferring professional degrees or licences.

   a Divinity Hall; Apothecaries' Hall

8. (India) A living room.
9. (Oxbridge) A college's canteen, which is often but not always coterminous with a traditional hall.
10. (Oxbridge slang) A meal served and eaten at a college's hall.

• → Greek: χολ (chol), χωλ (chol), χωλλ (choll)
• → French: hall
• → Japanese: ホール (hōru)
• → Korean: 홀 (hol)
• → Russian: холл (xoll)

• IPA^(key): /ˈhaɫ/
• Rhymes: -aɫ

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish حال (hal, “situation; grief”).

hall m (plural halle)

1. difficult situation, difficulty, trouble, misery, plight

   Synonyms: ngushticë, mundim, nevojë

2. concern, vexing issue

   Synonym: shqetësim

hall

1. badly, wrongly

   Synonym: keq

   hall kështu, hall ashtu. ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

• FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language]‎^[1], 1980, page 643ab
• Bufli, G., Rocchi, L. (2021) “hall¹”, in A historical-etymological dictionary of Turkisms in Albanian (1555–1954), Trieste: Edizioni Università di Trieste, page 184f.
• Mann, S. E. (1948) “hall”, in An Historical Albanian–English Dictionary, London: Longmans, Green & Co., page 153a
• Meyer, G. (1891) “hał”, in Etymologisches Wörterbuch der albanesischen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the Albanian Language] (in German), Strasbourg: Karl J. Trübner, →DOI, page 145

• Orel, Vladimir E. (1998) “hall”, in Albanian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill, →ISBN, page 141f.

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish حل (hal, “solution”).

hall m (plural halle) (colloquial)

1. solution, way out

   Synonyms: zgjidhje, rrugëdalje

• FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language]‎^[2], 1980, page 643ab
• Bufli, G., Rocchi, L. (2021) “hall²”, in A historical-etymological dictionary of Turkisms in Albanian (1555–1954), Trieste: Edizioni Università di Trieste, page 185

Borrowed from English hall.

hall

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) assembly hall; auditorium
2. (Hong Kong Cantonese) residence hall; dormitory

Borrowed from English hall. Doublet of hal.

• IPA^(key): [hɒːl]

hall c (singular definite hallen, plural indefinite haller)

1. hall (a corridor or a hallway)

Compare German hell.

hall

1. (Erzgebirgisch) clear, bright, light

   an hallrlichtrn Tooch

   in broad daylight (lit. at bright-light day)

• 2004 Karl Heinz Schmidt, Ich putz mein Christbaam aa, P. 14

• 2020 June 11, Hendrik Heidler, Hendrik Heidler's 400 Seiten: Echtes Erzgebirgisch: Wuu de Hasen Hoosn haaßn un de Hosen Huusn do sei mir drhamm: Das Original Wörterbuch: Ratgeber und Fundgrube der erzgebirgischen Mund- und Lebensart: Erzgebirgisch – Deutsch / Deutsch – Erzgebirgisch‎^[3], 3. geänderte Auflage edition, Norderstedt: BoD – Books on Demand, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 57:

Inherited from Proto-Finnic *halla.

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɑlː/, [ˈ(h)ɑlː]

hall (genitive halla, partitive halla)

1. frost

Inherited from Proto-Finnic *halli (compare Finnish halli), from Balto-Slavic. Compare Latvian salnis, Lithuanian šalnis (“off-white, roan”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɑlʲː/, [ˈ(h)ɑlʲː]

hall (genitive halli, partitive halli, comparative hallim, superlative kõige hallim)

1. grey (color)

Declension of hall (ÕS type 22e/riik, length gradation)
		singular	plural
nominative		hall	hallid
accusative	nom.
	gen.	halli
genitive			hallide
partitive		halli	halle hallisid
illative		halli hallisse	hallidesse hallesse
inessive		hallis	hallides halles
elative		hallist	hallidest hallest
allative		hallile	hallidele hallele
adessive		hallil	hallidel hallel
ablative		hallilt	hallidelt hallelt
translative		halliks	hallideks halleks
terminative		hallini	hallideni
essive		hallina	hallidena
abessive		hallita	hallideta
comitative		halliga	hallidega

• hallitama

Colors in Estonian · värvid (layout · text)

valge	hall	must
punane; karmiinpunane	oranž; pruun	kollane; kreem
laimiroheline, kollakasroheline	roheline	mündiroheline; tumeroheline
tsüaansinine, rohekassinine; sinakasroheline, siniroheline	taevasinine, taevassinine	sinine
lilla, violetne; potisinine, indigosinine	fuksia, magentapunane; lilla, purpurne, purpurpunane	roosa

German Halle.

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɑlʲː/, [ˈ(h)ɑlʲː]

hall (genitive halli, partitive halli)

1. hall (a large room or building)

Declension of hall (ÕS type 22e/riik, length gradation)
		singular	plural
nominative		hall	hallid
accusative	nom.
	gen.	halli
genitive			hallide
partitive		halli	halle hallisid
illative		halli hallisse	hallidesse hallesse
inessive		hallis	hallides halles
elative		hallist	hallidest hallest
allative		hallile	hallidele hallele
adessive		hallil	hallidel hallel
ablative		hallilt	hallidelt hallelt
translative		halliks	hallideks halleks
terminative		hallini	hallideni
essive		hallina	hallidena
abessive		hallita	hallideta
comitative		halliga	hallidega

• hall in Sõnaveeb (Eesti Keele Instituut)

Borrowed from English hall. Doublet of halle.

• ^{(aspirated h)} IPA^(key): /ol/

• Audio:

  (file)

hall m (plural halls)

1. hall
   • 2018 July 6, “Bonaparte”, in Elh Kmer (lyrics), Antidote:

     Les keufs barodent
     Parce qu’ils barodent, j’suis caché dans l’hall

     The pigs walk around
     And because they walk around I am hidden in the hall

2. lobby

• “hall”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• IPA^(key): /hal/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al

hall

1. singular imperative of hallen
2. (colloquial) first-person singular present of hallen

• IPA^(key): [ˈhɒlː]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒlː

From the conflation^[1] of Proto-Uralic *kontale- (compare Old Hungarian hadl (“hear”), Northern Mansi хӯнтлуӈкве (hūntluňkve), Finnish kuunnella) and Proto-Uralic *kuwle- (compare Northern Mansi хӯлуӈкве (hūluňkve) and Finnish kuulla).

hall

2. (intransitive) to hear (to perceive sounds through the ear)
3. (transitive) to hear (to perceive with the ear)

   Hallottam egy hangot a szobából. ― I heard a sound from the room.

This verb is a member of one of those (few) quasi-homonymous verb pairs that exist both with and without an -ik ending. All (intransitive) suffixed forms of these pairs are identical (sometimes they can even have derived forms that coincide), with the exception of their dictionary form (the third-person singular indicative present, with or without -ik). However, the meaning of these pairs is usually distinct, sometimes unrelated. Examples include (fel)áldoz–(le)áldozik, bán–bánik, (meg)bíz–(meg)bízik, (meg)ér–(meg)érik, esz (rare)–eszik, hajol–hajlik, hasonul–(meg)hasonlik, (felül)múl–(el)múlik, (hozzá)nyúl–nyúlik, (el)vesz–(el)veszik~(el)vész, and tör–törik (along with their verbal prefixes), hall–hallik (archaic), érez–érzik (archaic), sometimes with some difference: (el)hibáz–hibádzik, (le)torkol–torkollik. Therefore one may well need to check the context and the arguments to ascertain which member of the verb pair is relevant.

(With verbal prefixes):

Borrowed from German Halle.^[2]

hall (plural hallok)

2. middle-sized, windowless room, entryway, hallway (in a private flat/apartment, with a size not smaller than 8 m² [86 sq ft], with space for people, but without affording them privacy due to its being an entry to other rooms)^{[3][4][5][6][7][8]}

   Synonym: előtér

   Coordinate terms: szoba, helyiség, félszoba, alkóv, gardrób, előszoba, hálószoba, nappali

3. lobby, foyer, lounge (e.g. in a hotel or an opera house)

   Synonyms: társalgó, előcsarnok

1. ^ Entry #386 in Uralonet, online Uralic etymological database of the Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics.
2. ^ Tótfalusi, István. Idegenszó-tár: Idegen szavak értelmező és etimológiai szótára (’A Storehouse of Foreign Words: an explanatory and etymological dictionary of foreign words’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2005. →ISBN
3. ^ Az előszobát követő, a helyiségek előterét alkotó ablaktalan lakóhelyiség neve hall, melynek területe minimum 8 négyzetméter. Minden, amit tudni akartál a lakásokról…
4. ^ Ablaktalan, 8-10 négyzetméternél nem kisebb helyiség, funkciója (…), hogy a belőle nyíló szobák külön bejáratát biztosítja. Nem tévesztendő össze az előszobával, mivel a hall nem feltétlenül a bejárati ajtó mögött helyezkedik el. Régi, polgári lakások gyakori elrendezése, hogy az előszobából rövid folyosó vezet a hallba. Ingatlanos kisszótár
5. ^ Egy olyan ablaktalan helyiség, ahonnan ajtók nyílnak a többi szobába. (…) legalább 8‑10 négyzetméteres kell, hogy legyen, de (…) a panellakásokban ritkán érik el ezt a méretet. (…) olyan közlekedő, ami hasznosítható. Nem keverendő össze az előszobával, de legtöbbször az előszoba a hallba vezet. 20 ingatlanos kifejezés…
6. ^ 'A legfőbb, minden kritikában visszaköszönő érv az volt, hogy a hallos lakás teljesen alkalmatlan gyermekes családok számára, mert nem teszi lehetővé a felnőttek és gyermekek, illetve ez utóbbiak esetében a lányok és fiúk egymástól elkülönített alvását. Az 1930-as évek új lakástípusa: a hallos lakás
7. ^ <Városi típusú lakásokban> rendsz. a bejárat közelében levő, gyak. ablaktalan nagyobb helyiség, amelyből a többi helyiség nyílik, s amely az előszobával ellentétben tartózkodásra, vendégek fogadására is haszn. és lakható. From hall in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN., quoted below.
8. ^ Lakásban (az előszoba után) a helyiségek előterét alkotó (ablaktalan) (lakó)helyiség. From hall in Pusztai, Ferenc (ed.). Magyar értelmező kéziszótár (“A Concise Explanatory Dictionary of Hungarian”). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2003. 2nd, expanded and revised edition →ISBN. Online searchable version (under development)

• (to hear): hall in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.
• (entryway): hall in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

Inherited from Proto-Finnic *halla, borrowed from Baltic. Cognates include Finnish halla.

hall

1. frost

Derived from Old Norse hǫll.

hall m (definite singular hallen, indefinite plural haller, definite plural hallene)

1. hall (a building or very large room)

• “hall” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• IPA^(key): /hɑlː/

Derived from Old Norse hǫll. Akin to English hall.

hall m (definite singular hallen, indefinite plural hallar, definite plural hallane)
hall f (definite singular halla, indefinite plural haller, definite plural hallene)

1. hall (a building or very large room)

Derived from Old Norse hallr.

hall n (definite singular hallet, indefinite plural hall, definite plural halla)

1. slope, sloping terrain

• “hall” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

hall

1. alternative spelling of hal (“a more or less flat, often sloping section of rock surface”)

Unadapted borrowing from English hall.

hall m (plural halls)

1. (architecture) lobby; entrance hall (a room in a building used for entry from the outside)

   Synonyms: átrio, entrada

• hall da fama

hall n (plural halluri)

1. obsolete form of hol

• hall in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN

• jol

Unadapted borrowing from English hall.

• IPA^(key): /ˈxol/ [ˈxol]
• Rhymes: -ol

hall m (plural halls)

1. hall, lobby, lounge

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

• “hall”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024
• Manuel Seco, Olimpia Andrés, Gabino Ramos (3 August 2023) “hall”, in Diccionario del español actual [Dictionary of Current Spanish] (in Spanish), third digital edition, Fundación BBVA [BBVA Foundation]

Inherited from Old Norse hǫll, from Proto-Germanic *hallō, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel-. Compare English hall. Related to Latin cella and English cellar.^[1]

• IPA^(key): /hal/

• Audio:

  (file)

hall c

1. hallway
2. lounge
3. corridor
4. entryway
5. short for any of the words:
   • simhall
   • ishall
   • sporthall
   • verkstadshall
   • mässhall

Most commonly refers to a small room just inside the front door of a residential building, where shoes and outerwear are taken off or put on.