torii

[ tawr-ee-ee ]

noun,plural to·ri·i.
  1. (in Japan) a form of decorative gateway or portal, consisting of two upright wooden posts connected at the top by two horizontal crosspieces, commonly found at the entrance to Shinto shrines.

Origin of torii

1
First recorded in 1720–30; from Japanese, equivalent to tori “bird” + (w)i “perch”

Words Nearby torii

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use torii in a sentence

  • Shinjiro torii built the first whisky distillery in Japan in 1923 at Yamazaki on the island of Honshu.

  • There is, first, the wooden archway (called torii, or toriwi) through which one passes in approaching the temples.

    The Shinto Cult | Milton Spenser Terry
  • They are approached through archways (called torii, or toriwi) of simple construction.

    The Shinto Cult | Milton Spenser Terry
  • Occasionally a shrine was visible within, and the obligatory torii stood at the edge of the grove, or within its first limits.

  • Looking through a torii one is sure to be in the direction of something sacred, whether it be temple or shrine or holy mountain.

  • Then the temple attendants brushed with brooms the mosses of the pavement about the torii, and the gates were closed.

British Dictionary definitions for torii

torii

/ (ˈtɔːrɪˌiː) /


nounplural -rii
  1. a gateway, esp one at the entrance to a Japanese Shinto temple

Origin of torii

1
C19: from Japanese, literally: a perch for birds

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012