oriel

American  

[awr-ee-uhl, ohr‑] / ˈɔr i əl, ˈoʊr‑ /

noun

1. a bay window, especially one cantilevered or corbeled out from a wall.

2. (in medieval architecture) a large bay window of a hall or chamber.

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Etymology

Origin of oriel

1350–1400; Middle English < Anglo-French oriol porch, passage, gallery, perhaps ≪ Latin aureolus “gilded”

Example Sentences

Wrought-iron balconies, turrets, oriel windows: block after block, the residential facades were unique and homogenous at the same time.

From New York Times • Dec. 23, 2011

So, let's go ... through the neo-gothic oriel window!

From The Guardian • Jul. 2, 2010

Still Amy did not care; for she had determined in her own mind that they would decide upon the bedroom oriel, which was just over the old schoolroom.

From Amy Herbert by Sewell, Elizabeth

Lichfield has a gallery over the sacristy door, which served the same purpose; and at Worcester an oriel was probably used by the watchers.

From Ecclesiastical Curiosities by Various

The uncomplimentary confidence was made into the shell-like ear of Mrs. Talmage Eglinton, who, faultlessly gowned by Worth, was sitting apart with her nominal hostess in the embrasure of an oriel window.

From The Duke Decides by Hill, Headon