Hallway

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈhɔːlweɪ/

Definitions

1. A narrow passage inside a building that connects different rooms or areas
2. A defined passage within a building that serves to connect multiple rooms or areas for movement and access
3. A narrow corridor within a structure used for accessing various rooms or spaces

Etymology: "Hallway" is a plain compound: "hall" joined to "way." The "hall" half comes from Old English "heall," a large room used for gatherings, meals and assemblies, and the "way" half is the ordinary word for a path or passage. Put together, the sense was originally the passage leading to or through a hall, the route a person walked to reach the main room of a house. Over time the meaning narrowed and shifted. The large communal room that gave the word its first half gradually became less central to domestic life, while the passage connecting rooms grew more important, so the compound came to name the corridor itself rather than the route to the hall. Today the word refers to any narrow internal passage linking rooms, which is why it sits so comfortably in a modern house with no great hall at all.

Synonyms: corridor, passage