From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
hall
n 1: an interior passage or corridor onto which rooms open; "the
elevators were at the end of the hall" [syn: hallway,
hall]
2: a large entrance or reception room or area [syn: anteroom,
antechamber, entrance hall, hall, foyer, lobby,
vestibule]
3: a large room for gatherings or entertainment; "lecture hall";
"pool hall"
4: a college or university building containing living quarters
for students [syn: dormitory, dorm, residence hall,
hall, student residence]
5: the large room of a manor or castle [syn: manor hall,
hall]
6: English writer whose novel about a lesbian relationship was
banned in Britain for many years (1883-1943) [syn: Hall,
Radclyffe Hall, Marguerite Radclyffe Hall]
7: United States child psychologist whose theories of child
psychology strongly influenced educational psychology
(1844-1924) [syn: Hall, G. Stanley Hall, {Granville
Stanley Hall}]
8: United States chemist who developed an economical method of
producing aluminum from bauxite (1863-1914) [syn: Hall,
Charles Martin Hall]
9: United States explorer who led three expeditions to the
Arctic (1821-1871) [syn: Hall, Charles Francis Hall]
10: United States astronomer who discovered Phobos and Deimos
(the two satellites of Mars) (1829-1907) [syn: Hall,
Asaph Hall]
11: a large and imposing house [syn: mansion, mansion house,
manse, hall, residence]
12: a large building used by a college or university for
teaching or research; "halls of learning"
13: a large building for meetings or entertainment
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Hall \Hall\ (h[add]l), n. [OE. halle, hal, AS. heal, heall; akin
to D. hal, OS. & OHG. halla, G. halle, Icel. h["o]ll, and
prob. from a root meaning, to hide, conceal, cover. See
Hell, Helmet.]
1. A building or room of considerable size and stateliness,
used for public purposes; as, Westminster Hall, in London.
[1913 Webster]
2.
(a) The chief room in a castle or manor house, and in
early times the only public room, serving as the place
of gathering for the lord's family with the retainers
and servants, also for cooking and eating. It was
often contrasted with the bower, which was the
private or sleeping apartment.
[1913 Webster]
Full sooty was her bower and eke her hall.
--Chaucer.
Hence, as the entrance from outside was directly into
the hall:
(b) A vestibule, entrance room, etc., in the more
elaborated buildings of later times. Hence:
(c) Any corridor or passage in a building.
[1913 Webster]
3. A name given to many manor houses because the magistrate's
court was held in the hall of his mansion; a chief mansion
house. --Cowell.
[1913 Webster]
4. A college in an English university (at Oxford, an
unendowed college).
[1913 Webster]
5. The apartment in which English university students dine in
common; hence, the dinner itself; as, hall is at six
o'clock.
[1913 Webster]
6. Cleared passageway in a crowd; -- formerly an exclamation.
[Obs.] "A hall! a hall!" --B. Jonson.
Syn: Entry; court; passage. See Vestibule.
[1913 Webster]