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Hall (concept)
Encyclopedia
The meanings attributed to the word hall have varied over the centuries, as social practices have changed. The word derives from the Old Teutonic
(hallâ), where it is associated with the idea of covering or concealing. In modern German
it is Halle where it refers to a building but Saal where it refers to a large public room though the distinction is blurred:(Halle (Architektur) (de)). The latter may arise from a genitive
form of the former. The French
salle is borrowed from the German.
, as it was brought into Britain in the fifth century, a hall is, fundamentally, a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In 500, such a simple building was the residence of a lord and his retainers. This is the kind of hall which Beowulf
knew. Even now, hall is the term used for a country house in midland and northern England
.
The concept was more fundamental than referring to just domestic buildings. Though the lord's hall had an administrative aspect, this was more prominent in the town hall and the guild hall. The term might even be applied to a temple
, in the same way as a basilica, now an ecclesiastical building, originated as a lordly reception hall with other domestic and other buildings close by in the same compound
, just like an Anglo-Saxon
moated hall
but in a warmer climate
. Compare the Basilica in Trier. (picture). Similarly, the French word salle can refer to a large, former church building such as the Salle Stengel de Lorentzen (fr) or to a sports hall (fr) large enough for playing hockey
in.
at the time. The English had come to Britain from a part of Europe which had not been directly exposed to the ways of the Roman Empire
. As further time passed, the hall became the largest room of the house, often referred to as the great hall
. While the humbler residents still slept there, the lord's family had one or more chambers at one end of the building in what came to be called the solar
.
At this stage, we have the hall house
in which the central room is the great hall
. Off one end is the solar while a partition divides the other end of the hall off as the screens passage. Across the passage lie the pantry
and buttery
with between them, a passage through to the kitchen
. The function of the last had been removed from the hall for the convenience of both cooks and inhabitants but also because roasting fires were a serious fire risk. Kitchens were by this time, built of more fireproof materials in a separate building. These arrangements were well established by the fifteenth century. At some stage, one of these divisions was the parlour
, a concept which was in secular use by 1374.
In a modern house, the hall is the space inside the front door from which the rooms are reached. Where this kind of hall is elongated, it may be called a passage, or hallway. The corresponding space upstairs is a landing.
houses before them, the hall was where the fire was kept. With time, its functions as dormitory
, kitchen
, parlour
and so on were divided off to separate rooms or, in the case of the kitchen, a separate building.
are formally titled "So-and-so Hall". Such a hall is typically named after the person who endowed
it, for example, King's Hall, Cambridge
. Others, such as Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
, commemorate respected people.
Between these in age, Nassau Hall
at Princeton University
began as the single building of the then college
, showing a continuation of the medieval European pattern in America. The medieval universities had developed from colleges, that is groups of like-minded people living together in halls similar to the lordly ones described above and sleeping in carrels or separate rooms around the great hall.
In many cases, some aspect of this community
remains in the modern institution. At colleges in the universities of Oxford
, Cambridge
and Durham for example, Hall is the dining hall for students, with High Table
, on the dais at the high end, for fellows. Typically, at "Formal Hall", gowns are worn for dinner during the evening, whereas for "informal Hall" they are not.
such as the Mercers
in the City of London
, have a Hall which serves as their headquarters and meeting place. In origin, this was just like the lordly hall with its great hall though the peripheral rooms would have their specialist uses as parlours and robing rooms for example.
, used for various ceremonial, social or concert events. Most public halls of this sort are available for renting out for meetings and social affairs. It may be privately or government-owned, such as a function hall owned by one company used for weddings and cotillions (organized and run by the same company on a contractual basis) or a community hall available for rent to anyone.
Following a line of similar development:
Derived from the residential meanings of the word:
A Hall is a brand of bitter (beer) made in Germany and sold worldwide, mainly across America.
Sir Charles Hallé
(originally Karl Halle) lent his name to the Hallé Orchestra. His forbears were probably associated with the German town of Halle. The accent was added to his name in order to assist English-speakers in pronouncing the word.
In the ancient world, the Celts were neighbours of the Greeks whose word for salt was halos (`αλοσ). While European science was developing, some branches of it adopted the Greek language as the source of its terminology. We therefore have words like halogen
, halide
, halotrichite
and halocarbon
.
Proto-Germanic language
Proto-Germanic , or Common Germanic, as it is sometimes known, is the unattested, reconstructed proto-language of all the Germanic languages, such as modern English, Frisian, Dutch, Afrikaans, German, Luxembourgish, Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, and Swedish.The Proto-Germanic language is...
(hallâ), where it is associated with the idea of covering or concealing. In modern German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
it is Halle where it refers to a building but Saal where it refers to a large public room though the distinction is blurred:(Halle (Architektur) (de)). The latter may arise from a genitive
Genitive case
In grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun...
form of the former. The French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
salle is borrowed from the German.
Simple beginnings
In Old EnglishOld English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
, as it was brought into Britain in the fifth century, a hall is, fundamentally, a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In 500, such a simple building was the residence of a lord and his retainers. This is the kind of hall which Beowulf
Beowulf
Beowulf , but modern scholars agree in naming it after the hero whose life is its subject." of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature.It survives in a single...
knew. Even now, hall is the term used for a country house in midland and northern England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
The concept was more fundamental than referring to just domestic buildings. Though the lord's hall had an administrative aspect, this was more prominent in the town hall and the guild hall. The term might even be applied to a temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
, in the same way as a basilica, now an ecclesiastical building, originated as a lordly reception hall with other domestic and other buildings close by in the same compound
Compound (fortification)
In military science, a compound is a type of fortification made up of walls or fences surrounding several buildings in the center of a large piece of land...
, just like an Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
moated hall
Moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...
but in a warmer climate
Climate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
. Compare the Basilica in Trier. (picture). Similarly, the French word salle can refer to a large, former church building such as the Salle Stengel de Lorentzen (fr) or to a sports hall (fr) large enough for playing hockey
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
in.
Medieval developments
Later, partitions were set up so that the lord's family could have more privacy, a fairly new concept in northern EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
at the time. The English had come to Britain from a part of Europe which had not been directly exposed to the ways of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. As further time passed, the hall became the largest room of the house, often referred to as the great hall
Great hall
A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, nobleman's castle or a large manor house in the Middle Ages, and in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries. At that time the word great simply meant big, and had not acquired its modern connotations of excellence...
. While the humbler residents still slept there, the lord's family had one or more chambers at one end of the building in what came to be called the solar
Solar (room)
The solar was a room in many English and French medieval manor houses, great houses and castles, generally situated on an upper storey, designed as the family's private living and sleeping quarters...
.
At this stage, we have the hall house
Hall House
Hall House or Hall Farm may refer to:*Goode-Hall House, Town Creek, Alabama, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama...
in which the central room is the great hall
Great hall
A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, nobleman's castle or a large manor house in the Middle Ages, and in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries. At that time the word great simply meant big, and had not acquired its modern connotations of excellence...
. Off one end is the solar while a partition divides the other end of the hall off as the screens passage. Across the passage lie the pantry
Pantry
A pantry is a room where food, provisions or dishes are stored and served in an ancillary capacity to the kitchen. The derivation of the word is from the same source as the Old French term paneterie; that is from pain, the French form of the Latin panis for bread.In a late medieval hall, there were...
and buttery
Buttery (shop)
In the Middle Ages, a buttery was a storeroom for liquor, the name being derived from the Latin and French words for bottle or, to put the word into its simpler form, a butt, that is, a cask. A butler, before he became able to take charge of the ewery, pantry, cellar, and the staff, would be in...
with between them, a passage through to the kitchen
Kitchen
A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation.In the West, a modern residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running water, a refrigerator and kitchen cabinets arranged according to a modular design. Many households have a...
. The function of the last had been removed from the hall for the convenience of both cooks and inhabitants but also because roasting fires were a serious fire risk. Kitchens were by this time, built of more fireproof materials in a separate building. These arrangements were well established by the fifteenth century. At some stage, one of these divisions was the parlour
Parlour
Parlour , from the French word parloir, from parler , denotes an "audience chamber". In parts of the United Kingdom and the United States, parlours are common names for certain types of food service houses, restaurants or special service areas, such as tattoo parlors...
, a concept which was in secular use by 1374.
Renaissance domesticity
During the sixteenth the process of subdivision proceeded. Notably, in an increasing number of cases, this was by inserting a floor, dividing the space which would have been occupied by the open hall in two, horizontally. From the early seventeenth century, the hall was usually a space inside the front door, more or less grand, in keeping with the grandeur of the house, in which people were first welcomed before proceeding to one of the partitioned rooms. The Red Hall in Bourne from about 1620 is still called a hall, but is designed not around a great hall but its staircase. Its hall, at the front door, has rather the nature of a passage leading to the featured staircase at the back of the house. The hall has a ceiling as low as any other in the house.In a modern house, the hall is the space inside the front door from which the rooms are reached. Where this kind of hall is elongated, it may be called a passage, or hallway. The corresponding space upstairs is a landing.
Other aspects
In an early medieval building, as in the round Iron AgeIron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
houses before them, the hall was where the fire was kept. With time, its functions as dormitory
Dormitory
A dormitory, often shortened to dorm, in the United States is a residence hall consisting of sleeping quarters or entire buildings primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people, often boarding school, college or university students...
, kitchen
Kitchen
A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation.In the West, a modern residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running water, a refrigerator and kitchen cabinets arranged according to a modular design. Many households have a...
, parlour
Parlour
Parlour , from the French word parloir, from parler , denotes an "audience chamber". In parts of the United Kingdom and the United States, parlours are common names for certain types of food service houses, restaurants or special service areas, such as tattoo parlors...
and so on were divided off to separate rooms or, in the case of the kitchen, a separate building.
University halls
On the same principle many buildings at colleges and universitiesUniversity
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
are formally titled "So-and-so Hall". Such a hall is typically named after the person who endowed
Financial endowment
A financial endowment is a transfer of money or property donated to an institution. The total value of an institution's investments is often referred to as the institution's endowment and is typically organized as a public charity, private foundation, or trust....
it, for example, King's Hall, Cambridge
King's Hall, Cambridge
King's Hall was once one of the constituent colleges of Cambridge, founded in 1317, the second after Peterhouse. King's Hall was established by King Edward II to provide chancery clerks for his administration, and was very rich compared to Michaelhouse, which occupied the southern area of what is...
. Others, such as Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
Lady Margaret Hall is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located at the end of Norham Gardens in north Oxford. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £34m....
, commemorate respected people.
Between these in age, Nassau Hall
Nassau Hall
Nassau Hall is the oldest building at Princeton University in the borough of Princeton, New Jersey . At the time it was built in 1754, Nassau Hall was the largest building in colonial New Jersey. Designed originally by Robert Smith, the building was subsequently remodeled by notable American...
at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
began as the single building of the then college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
, showing a continuation of the medieval European pattern in America. The medieval universities had developed from colleges, that is groups of like-minded people living together in halls similar to the lordly ones described above and sleeping in carrels or separate rooms around the great hall.
In many cases, some aspect of this community
Community
The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...
remains in the modern institution. At colleges in the universities of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
and Durham for example, Hall is the dining hall for students, with High Table
High Table
At Oxford, Cambridge and Durham colleges — and other, similarly traditional and prestigious UK academic institutions At Oxford, Cambridge and Durham colleges — and other, similarly traditional and prestigious UK academic institutions At Oxford, Cambridge and Durham colleges — and other, similarly...
, on the dais at the high end, for fellows. Typically, at "Formal Hall", gowns are worn for dinner during the evening, whereas for "informal Hall" they are not.
Livery companies
Many Livery CompaniesLivery Company
The Livery Companies are 108 trade associations in the City of London, almost all of which are known as the "Worshipful Company of" the relevant trade, craft or profession. The medieval Companies originally developed as guilds and were responsible for the regulation of their trades, controlling,...
such as the Mercers
Worshipful Company of Mercers
The Worshipful Company of Mercers is the premier Livery Company of the City of London and ranks first in order of precedence. It is the first of the so-called "Great Twelve City Livery Companies". It was incorporated under a Royal Charter in 1394...
in the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
, have a Hall which serves as their headquarters and meeting place. In origin, this was just like the lordly hall with its great hall though the peripheral rooms would have their specialist uses as parlours and robing rooms for example.
Public halls
Similarly a hall is also a building consisting largely of a principal room, whether medieval like Westminster Hall or more modern like Carnegie HallCarnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
, used for various ceremonial, social or concert events. Most public halls of this sort are available for renting out for meetings and social affairs. It may be privately or government-owned, such as a function hall owned by one company used for weddings and cotillions (organized and run by the same company on a contractual basis) or a community hall available for rent to anyone.
Following a line of similar development:
- In officeOfficeAn office is generally a room or other area in which people work, but may also denote a position within an organization with specific duties attached to it ; the latter is in fact an earlier usage, office as place originally referring to the location of one's duty. When used as an adjective, the...
buildings and larger buildings (theatreTheatreTheatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
s, cinemasMovie theaterA movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
etc.), the entrance hall is generally known as the foyerFoyerA foyer or lobby is a large, vast room or complex of rooms adjacent to the auditorium...
(the French for fire-place). The atriumAtrium (architecture)In modern architecture, an atrium is a large open space, often several stories high and having a glazed roof and/or large windows, often situated within a larger multistory building and often located immediately beyond the main entrance doors...
, a name sometimes used in public buildings for the entrance hall, was the central courtyard of a Roman house.
Derived from the residential meanings of the word:
- Hall is also a surnameSurnameA surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
of people, one of whose ancestors may have lived or worked in a hall as distinct from one such as David M. CoteDavid M. CoteDavid M. "Dave" Cote is the Chairman and CEO of Honeywell. He was first elected president, CEO and a member of the Board of Honeywell in February 2002, and became chairman of the Board of Directors on July 1, 2002...
, whose ancestor was named for a "cote": a much humbler place shared with the livestockLivestockLivestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
.
Association with salt
From a completely separate derivation:A Hall is a brand of bitter (beer) made in Germany and sold worldwide, mainly across America.
- In German speaking areas, Hall (with a short a) can also form part of a town name, like HalleHalle, Saxony-AnhaltHalle is the largest city in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is also called Halle an der Saale in order to distinguish it from the town of Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia...
, where the name refers to hall, the Celtic word for salt (compare WelshWelsh languageWelsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
halen or Breton holen or Cornish holan). In this connection, Hall is the short form of the name of:
- the medieval German town Schwäbisch HallSchwäbisch HallSchwäbisch Hall is a town in the German state of Baden-Württemberg and capital of the district of Schwäbisch Hall. The town is located in the valley of the river Kocher in the north-eastern part of Baden-Württemberg....
, where Hall was its whole name prior to 1933 - the AustriaAustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n town Hall in TirolHall in TirolHall in Tirol is a town in the Innsbruck-Land district of Tyrol, Austria. Located at an altitude of 574 m, about 5 km east of the state's capital Innsbruck in the Inn valley, it has a population of about 12,700 .-History:...
near InnsbruckInnsbruck- Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus...
, which used to be called Solbad Hall from 1938 to 1974, - HallstattHallstattHallstatt, Upper Austria is a village in the Salzkammergut, a region in Austria. It is located near the Hallstätter See . At the 2001 census it had 946 inhabitants...
in AustriaAustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
which gave its name to the Celtic Hallstatt cultureHallstatt cultureThe Hallstatt culture was the predominant Central European culture from the 8th to 6th centuries BC , developing out of the Urnfield culture of the 12th century BC and followed in much of Central Europe by the La Tène culture.By the 6th century BC, the Hallstatt culture extended for some...
.
Sir Charles Hallé
Charles Hallé
Sir Charles Hallé was an Anglo-German pianist and conductor, and founder of The Hallé orchestra in 1858.-Life:Hallé was born in Hagen, Westphalia, Germany who after settling in England changed his name from Karl Halle...
(originally Karl Halle) lent his name to the Hallé Orchestra. His forbears were probably associated with the German town of Halle. The accent was added to his name in order to assist English-speakers in pronouncing the word.
In the ancient world, the Celts were neighbours of the Greeks whose word for salt was halos (`αλοσ). While European science was developing, some branches of it adopted the Greek language as the source of its terminology. We therefore have words like halogen
Halogen
The halogens or halogen elements are a series of nonmetal elements from Group 17 IUPAC Style of the periodic table, comprising fluorine , chlorine , bromine , iodine , and astatine...
, halide
Halide
A halide is a binary compound, of which one part is a halogen atom and the other part is an element or radical that is less electronegative than the halogen, to make a fluoride, chloride, bromide, iodide, or astatide compound. Many salts are halides...
, halotrichite
Halotrichite
Halotrichite, also known as feather alum, is a highly hydrated sulfate of aluminium and iron. It is formed by the weathering and decomposition of pyrite commonly near or in volcanic vents. Its chemical formula is FeAl24·22H2O. It forms fibrous monoclinic crystals. The crystals are water...
and halocarbon
Halocarbon
Halocarbon compounds are chemicals in which one or more carbon atoms are linked by covalent bonds with one or more halogen atoms resulting in the formation of organofluorine compounds, organochlorine compounds, organobromine compounds, and organoiodine compounds...
.