oriel
noun/ˈɔːɹiəl/
Etymology From Middle English oriel, from Old French oriol (“gallery, corridor”), Late Latin oriolum (“portico, hall”), probably from Latin aureolus (“gilded”), applied to an apartment decorated with gilding. See oriole. Or a diminutive of Latin os (“mouth”).
1
Architecture A large polygonal recess in a building, such as a bay window, forming a protrusion on the outer wall.
- The middle window of the oriel before her, just caught and reflected back the crimson light and colour. The ground below looked bright and warm compared with the shade around.1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIV, in Romance and Reality. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 202:
- The beams that thro' the Oriel shine / Make prisms in every carven glass, / And beaker brimm'd with noble wine.1842, Alfred Tennyson, “The Day-Dream. The Sleeping Palace.”, in Poems. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 151:
2
Obsolete A small apartment next to a hall, used for dining.
- Derived terms
- orielled