Etymograph

English

hall

Hall comes from Middle English halle, from Old English heall, from Proto-Germanic *hallō, from PIE *ḱel- ‘to hide, conceal’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱel-1‘to hide, conceal’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hallō1‘hall’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hallu1‘hall’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150heall1‘hall’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500halle1‘hall’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1592hall1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English hall
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1590–1592, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew: “But Kate, the prettiest Kate in Christendome, Kate of…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱel-Wiktionary, English hall‘to hide, conceal’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hallōWiktionary, English hall‘hall’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*halluWiktionary, English hall‘hall’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150heallWiktionary, English hall‘hall’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500halleWiktionary, English hall‘hall’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1592hallWiktionary, English hall. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1590–1592, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew: “But Kate, the prettiest Kate in Christendome, Kate of…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with hall, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- ‘to hide, conceal’

  • color ← colour ← colur ← colōs ← *kelōs
  • hell ← hel ← hel ← *hallju ← *haljō
  • hole ← hol ← *hol ← *hulą ← *hulaz
  • cell ← celle ← cella
  • holder ← hold ← holden ← healdan ← *haldan
  • ceiling ← celing ← celer ← cēlō
  • helmet
  • hull ← hul ← hulu ← *hul-
  • helm ← helma ← *helmô
  • hollow ← holow ← holh ← *holh ← *hulwiją
  • holden ← healden ← *haldan ← *haldaną
  • uphold ← upholden ← holden ← healdan ← *haldan

53 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

noun A corridor; a hallway.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “hall”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- / hall