Some of the senses of Anglo-Norman hale may indicate borrowing from Middle English, where the same etymon seems to have produced two words, hall n.1 meaning a significant, permanent structure and hale n.3 meaning a less substantial, often temporary structure ('stall, covered market'). The DMLBS reflecs this by having two separate entries. However, the different (and overlapping) senses can be found, to a lesser extent, in Continental French as well (cf. hale 1 and halle).

In its earliest attestation the term appears as a gloss to the otherwise unattested Latin word auliloquium (not included in DMLBS) which the editor of TLL suggests can be interpreted as 'hall'. Without further context in a trilingual glossary the gloss could equally be English or Anglo-Norman.