hall

A2 Topic:Places & Geography

US /hɔl/ UK /hɔːl/ See IPA manual

Homophones

haul /hɔl/

Minimal pairs

Sounds like hoar /l/ vs /r/

Freq #1381

Meanings

1

noun
A passage or area inside a building that connects rooms.

Her office is at the end of the hall.
2

noun
A large room or building used for meetings, events, or performances.

The concert was held in the town hall.
3

noun
A building where university students live.

She lived in a student hall during her first year.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a passage or area inside a... hallway corridor

Word family

Forms halls

Derived forms bhkdance-halldancehalldining-hallfirehallguild-hallguildhallhall-markhall-of-famerhallagehallcesthallful

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

hall porter
a worker who watches or manages a building's entrance

Noun + noun

Proverbs (1)

See all

You can't fight city hall

Etymology

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

*ḱel- (cover) Proto-Indo-European halle Middle English heall Old English *hallu Proto-West Germanic *hallō Proto-Germanic *ḱel- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Places & Geography

External links

# hall

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /hɔl/
**IPA (UK):** /hɔːl/
**Frequency rank:** 1381

## Meanings
1. A passage or area inside a building that connects rooms.
2. A large room or building used for meetings, events, or performances.
3. A building where university students live.

## Examples
- Her office is at the end of the hall.
- The concert was held in the town hall.
- She lived in a student hall during her first year.

## Derived Forms
- bhk
- dance-hall
- dancehall
- dining-hall
- firehall
- guild-hall
- guildhall
- hall-mark
- hall-of-famer
- hallage
- hallcest
- hallful

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *ḱel- (cover)
- Root: halle
- Root: heall
- Root: *hallu
- Root: *hallō
- Root: *ḱel-

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

## AI Etymology
Hall is inherited from Middle English halle (“hall”), from Old English heall (“hall, dwelling, house, palace, temple, law-court”), from Proto-West Germanic *hallu (“hall”), 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”), Danish hal (“hall, sports centre”), Faroese høll (“hall, palace”), Icelandic höll (“palace”), Norwegian hall (“hall”), Swedish hall (“hall”), Latin cella (“room, cell”), Sanskrit शाला (śā́lā, “house, mansion, hall”). Doublet of cell and cella. In current use, the main senses are “A passage or area inside a building that connects rooms” and “A large room or building used for meetings, events, or performances”.

## Topics
- Places & Geography

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