|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries: |
Research categories | Follow us on Twitter |
Research categories
View all topics in the newsView all reference sources at Encyclopedia.com |
|||
hall
hall a communicating passageway or, in medieval buildings, the large main room. In the feudal castle of N Europe it was a single apartment, and in it lord and retainers lounged, ate, and slept. From the hearth in its center the smoke rose to an outlet in the roof. At one end was the raised dais reserved for the master and those of his own rank. With developing amenities extra spaces were added for cooking and sleeping, and the hall advanced beyond its early rude and unfinished appearance. In English manor houses of the 14th and 15th cent. the characteristic great hall was covered by a fine open-timber roof, heated by one or more huge fireplaces, and lighted with lofty windows often arranged in deep, projecting bays. Westminster Hall, part of the ancient royal palace commenced in the 11th cent. and rebuilt in the 14th cent., was the most splendid. By the 17th cent., with the addition of drawing room, library, and bedrooms, the hall of the English house was no longer of great size and dominance. The English colleges of the Middle Ages and Renaissance also had halls or commons, chiefly for dining, that were architecturally similar to the baronial examples. Some were covered with fine fan vaults, others with timber roofs as at Christ Church, Oxford, perhaps the most splendid hall next to Westminster. The various guilds of N Europe had their halls, especially impressive in Flanders, e.g., the cloth halls at Bruges, Brussels, and Ypres. In Italy communal independence produced the remarkable series of local civic halls, often with imposing towers, as at Siena and Florence. The word hall came to be used in the title of many great English houses (Haddon Hall) and similarly in that of some Southern estates in the American colonies.
|
|
|
Cite this article
"hall." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "hall." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-hall.html "hall." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-hall.html |
|
hall
hall.
1. Main room of a medieval house or the large, communal room of a college, etc., often an open-hall, open to the roof, and sometimes with an open hearth. 2. Large room or building for the transaction of public business, the holding of courts of justice, or any public assembly, meeting, or entertainment (e.g. music-hall). 3. Building for a guild or fraternity, such as a London Livery-Company Hall (e.g. Hall of The Fishmongers' Company), or for a municipal body (e.g. city- or town-hall). 4. Principal messuage of a manor, i.e. the residence of a territorial proprietor. 5. University building set aside for the residence or instruction of students. 6. Common-room in a mansion in which servants dined. 7. Any large roofed volume. 8. Entrance-room (or -hall). Bibliography Alcock,, Barley,, Dixon,, & and Meeson (1996); |
|
|
Cite this article
JAMES STEVENS CURL. "hall." A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JAMES STEVENS CURL. "hall." A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O1-hall.html JAMES STEVENS CURL. "hall." A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. 2000. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O1-hall.html |
|
hall
hall / hôl/ • n. 1. an area in a building onto which rooms open; a corridor. ∎ the room or space just inside the front entrance of a house or apartment: an entrance hall. 2. a large room for meetings, concerts, or other events: [in names] Carnegie Hall. ∎ a large public room in a mansion or palace used for receptions and banquets. ∎ Brit. the room used for meals in a college, university, or school: he dined in hall. ∎ a college or university building containing classrooms, residences, or rooms for other purposes. ∎ the principal living room of a medieval house. 3. [usu. in names] Brit. a large country house, esp. one with a landed estate: Darlington Hall. |
|
|
Cite this article
"hall." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "hall." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-hall015.html "hall." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-hall015.html |
|
hall
hall †spacious roofed place OE.; large public room XI; building for residence of students, business of a guild, etc. XIV; large dining-room in a college, etc., XVI; vestibule, lobby XVII. OE. h(e)all = OS., OHG. halla (Du. hal, G. halle), ON. hǫll :- Gmc. *χallō, f. *χal- *χel- cover, conceal.
|
|
|
Cite this article
T. F. HOAD. "hall." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "hall." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-hall.html T. F. HOAD. "hall." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-hall.html |
|
hall
hall In AV, the courtyard of the high priest's house (Luke 22: 55); in the ‘common hall’ (AV, Matt. 27: 27) of the governor's residence, Jesus was mocked by the soldiers.
|
|
|
Cite this article
W. R. F. BROWNING. "hall." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. W. R. F. BROWNING. "hall." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O94-hall.html W. R. F. BROWNING. "hall." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O94-hall.html |
|
Hall
Hall ♂ Transferred use of the surname, which originated as a local name for someone, usually a servant or retainer, who lived at a manor house (Old English heall).
|
|
|
Cite this article
PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Hall." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Hall." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O41-Hall.html PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Hall." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O41-Hall.html |
|
Hall
Hall1 / hôl/ , Diane see Keaton. |
|
|
Cite this article
"Hall." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Hall." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-hall.html "Hall." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-hall.html |
|
hall
hall
•all, appal (US appall), awl, Bacall, ball, bawl, befall, Bengal, brawl, call, caul, crawl, Donegal, drawl, drywall, enthral (US enthrall), fall, forestall, gall, Galle, Gaul, hall, haul, maul, miaul, miscall, Montreal, Naipaul, Nepal, orle, pall, Paul, pawl, Saul, schorl, scrawl, seawall, Senegal, shawl, small, sprawl, squall, stall, stonewall, tall, thrall, trawl, wall, waul, wherewithal, withal, yawl
•carryall • blackball • handball
•patball • hardball • netball • baseball
•paintball • speedball • heelball
•meatball • stickball • pinball • spitball
•racquetball • basketball • volleyball
•eyeball, highball
•oddball • softball • mothball
•korfball • cornball
•lowball, no-ball, snowball
•goalball
•cueball, screwball
•goofball • stoolball • football
•puffball • punchball • fireball
•rollerball • cannonball • butterball
•catchall • bradawl • holdall • Goodall
|
|
|
Cite this article
"hall." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "hall." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-hall.html "hall." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-hall.html |
|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries:
HighBeam™ Research, Inc. © Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.
The Encyclopedia.com advertising network includes:
