Today, we will analyze in detail the meaning of the word "lobby". Consider in what areas it is used and where it came from.
Etymology
Currently, it is very rarely used and has practically come out of speech. It is indicated in the Dictionary of Foreign Words of the Russian Language and was borrowed in the 19th century from the French. It comes from the French couloir (corridor), which, in turn, was formed from the word couler (run, flow).
Some sources link the origin of the word with the Latin colare, which means "sift". But this version has no evidence.
The lexical meaning of the word
The most common is the following. The corridors are narrow corridors and utility rooms in the buildings of parliament, theaters and concert halls, which are designed to relax during breaks and intermissions. Here you can interview or exchange opinions on the issue under discussion. Such facilities are located on each floor of the building and are adjacent to the meeting rooms and the lobby.
In the political sphere, the expressions “behind the scenes” and “decision taken behind the scenes,” which are used to characterize unofficial “behind-the-scenes” transactions, were used.
The next meaning is a geographical term. The corridors are hollows in the slopes of the mountains, which are directed downstream and narrow towards the foot. They are divided into three types: ice (determine the path of snow and avalanches), rock (determine the path of water flow and discharge of stones). Weathering products roll down and form conical scree.
Climbers often use the corridors to climb the summit (Norton's corridor on Everest).
In the explanatory dictionary of S.I.Ozhegov it is said that the corridors are the environment of parliamentary circles (public and political), unofficial communication in this environment, as well as secret agreements adopted in it. The latter is taken from the Historical Dictionary.
Proper use of word forms in speech
Now the word is practically not used in the singular. The lobby is the inanimate masculine noun (ku-lu-ar), refers to the 2nd declension, the root of the couloir. From the word you can form the adjective “backstage” and the adverb “backstage”.
This borrowed word can be found in various fields of human activity - political, social, construction and scientific (geography). To date, the word "couloir" is often used in conversation with the French, in Russia it is rarely when you can hear it.