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halle

Etymology and origin of the French word halle

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1213, hale (Faits des Romains)
Borrowed from
Frankish *halla via Old French
Ultimate origin
Frankish (*halla)

Pronunciation

Forms

halle f (plural halles)[1] Old French hale[2][3][4]; halle from about 1360[2][3][4]. The ⟨h⟩ is aspirated.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French hale, borrowed from Frankish *halla (“large covered place”),[2][5][6][4][7] reconstructed from Old High German halla and Middle High German halle (modern German Halle).[2][5] Wiktionary gives Proto-Germanic *hallō.[1] It is a doublet of hall, borrowed from English.[1][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Faits des Romains (1213) uses hale for a large covered place where a market is held.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Les hales (about 1260) are the central food market of a town, and also from 1873 les Halles were those of Paris.[2][5] Since Montaigne (1595, words used aux hales) and Boileau's langage des halles (1669–1674), the phrase has suggested coarse popular speech;[2][5] critics mocked the Académie's dictionary of 1694 as the “dictionnaire des Halles”.[5]

A halle was also a public warehouse (halle aux vins, aux blés), and in Switzerland a halle de gymnastique is a gymnasium.[3][8] Hallage was the duty paid to sell in a market (about 1260).[2]

Timeline

  • 1213 – Hale (Faits des Romains).[2][4]
  • c. 1260 – Les hales[2]; halage “market duty”.[2]
  • c. 1360 – Halle (Froissart).[3][4]
  • 1595 – Market speech (Montaigne).[2]
  • 1669–1674 – Langage des halles (Boileau).[2][5]
  • 1873 – Les Halles of Paris.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A covered market hall: halle aux poissons.[8][1]
  2. Les halles: a town's central food market[8][2]; les Halles, that of Paris.[8][2]
  3. A large plain building for public use[8]; (Switzerland) halle de gymnastique “gym”.[8]

Word family

  • hallier
  • hall

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 16, 129a
  8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert

Related etymologies

  • malle · also from Frankish
  • houx · also from Frankish
  • gué · also from Frankish
  • canif · also from Frankish
Cite this entry

“Halle.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/halle. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·