guild-halln.
The hall in which a guild met. From its use as a meeting-place for the town and corporation often synonymous with ‘town-hall’; spec. (spelt Guildhall), the hall of the Corporation of the City of London, used for municipal meetings, state banquets, etc.
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society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > local government body > [noun] > local government offices > town-hall
guild-hall?a1000
tolsel1373
toll-hall1395
tollbooth1440
common house1450
town hallc1453
townhouse?1518
state housea1587
City Hall1603
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > local government body > [noun] > local government offices > town-hall > in London
guild-hall1598
?a1000 in Kemble Cod. Dipl. IV. 277 Orcy hæfð gegyfen þæ gegyld healle..þam gyldscipe to agenne.
1382 in Hist. MSS Comm.: 10th Rep.: App. Pt. V: MSS Marquis of Ormonde &c. (1885) 292 in Parl. Papers (C. 4576-I) XLII. 1 In the Gyldhal of the citie of Watirforde.
a1400 Pistill of Susan 293 Aȝein to þe ȝild-halle [v.rr. geld-, gilde-, gylde-halle] þe gomes vn-greiþ.
c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 372 Wel seemed eech of hem a fair Burgeys To sitten in a yeldehalle on a deys.
1467 in J. T. Smith & L. T. Smith Eng. Gilds (1870) 387 Also, that no maner persone pleye at the pame or at tenys, withyn the yeld halle of the seid cite.
1556 in J. G. Nichols Chron. Grey Friars (1852) 85 Condemnyd at the yelde-halle for hye tresone.
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III iii. v. 71 The Maior towards Guildhall hies him in all post. View more context for this quotation
1598 J. Stow Suruay of London 217 William Hariot Draper Mayor 1481. gaue 40. pound to the making of two louers in the said Guildhal.
c1600 Wriothesley's Chron. Eng. (1875) I. 16 There dyned in the Guylde hall at the said feast the Lorde Chauncellor.
1629 tr. Herodian Hist. (1635) 135 All the Citizens, utterly forsaking Iulian, assembled in the Guild-hall [margin συνέδριοι] by command of the Consuls.
1728 A. Pope Dunciad i. 24 This, the Great Mother dearer held than all..her own Guild-hall.
1765 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. I. 473 Their place of meeting is frequently called the Gild-hall.
1797 Encycl. Brit. X. 243/1 The lord-mayor elect..is soon after presented to the lord-chancellor..; and on the 9th of November following is sworn into the office of mayor at Guildhall.
1830 H. Thomas City of London I. 423 At the northern extremity of King Street in Guildhall yard, the north side of which is occupied by the principal front of the Guildhall or common hall of the corporation of London.
1873 L. O. Pike Hist. Crime I. 64 The Guild-hall of the burgesses of Dover.
1965 C. Trent Greater London xvi. 264 The rebuilding of the City is far from complete but the skyline has changed out of all recognition since 1945... The Guildhall has been rebuilt, many new fine blocks of offices have appeared.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
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