Emily Dickinson Lexicon

HALL, n. [Sax. heal; D. hal or zaal; G. saal; Sw. and Dan. sal; Fr. salle; It. and Sp. sala; L. aula; Gr. αυλη; Sans. aala; Copt. auli; Turk. awli. Qu. Heb. אהל, a tent, Ar. أَهَلَ to marry, and to begin housekeeping, or Heb. Ch. and Syr. היבל, a palace. Qu. are these all of one family? See Salt.]

1. In architecture, a large room at the entrance of a house or palace. In the houses of ministers of state, magistrates, &c. it is the place where they give audience and dispatch business. Encyc.
2. An edifice in which courts of justice are held; as Westminster hall, which was originally a royal palace; the kings of England formerly holding their parliaments and courts of judicature in their own dwellings, as is still the practice in Spain. Encyc.
3. A manor-house, in which courts were formerly held. Addison.
4. A college, or large edifice belonging to a collegiate institution.
5. A room for a corporation or public assembly; as, a town-hall; Fanueil Hall in Boston, &c.
6. A collegiate body in the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Prideaux.