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Wall

3 stages from Latin to English.

Today it means a continuous upright structure enclosing or dividing an area

Where does the word "wall" come from? It comes from Latin vallum, passing through Old English before entering English (1200s).

vallum→weall→wall

Latin · classical

a rampart of stakes and earth; Hadrian's Wall, begun in AD 122, has a great earthwork behind it that archaeologists call the Vallum

Old English · medieval

the Old English poem The Ruin marvels at crumbling Roman walls, probably those of Bath, as 'the work of giants'

English · 1200s

"upright structure"

kept the sense of a built stone barrier; 'the writing on the wall' comes from Belshazzar's feast in the Book of Daniel

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Wall’s story begins in Latin: vallum meant “rampart.” A rampart of stakes and earth; Hadrian's Wall, begun in AD 122, has a great earthwork behind it that archaeologists call the Vallum. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Old English as weall. The Old English poem The Ruin marvels at crumbling Roman walls, probably those of Bath, as 'the work of giants'. It reached English by 1200s as wall. Kept the sense of a built stone barrier; 'the writing on the wall' comes from Belshazzar's feast in the Book of Daniel. Today, wall means a continuous upright structure enclosing or dividing an area.