Learn English – the history of the word “lobby”

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I would like to know if the word "lobby" would have been used in 1890s Georgia (United States) and to what exactly this word would have referred in that time.

Best Answer

The entry for lobby in the Online Etymology Dictionary is:

lobby (n.) 1530s, "cloister, covered walk," from Medieval Latin laubia, lobia "covered walk in a monastery," from a Germanic source (cf. Old High German louba "hall, roof;" see lodge (n.)). Meaning "large entrance hall in a public building" is from 1590s. Political sense of "those who seek to influence legislation" is attested by 1790s in American English, in reference to the custom of influence-seekers gathering in large entrance-halls outside legislative chambers.

So, to answer your question, yes, it could be used in 1890s Georgia to refer to seeking to influence legislation. If you mean for it to be the entrance to a public building, then it is much older than that.

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