aureole

Also au·re·o·la

[awr-ee-ohl]

noun

1. a radiance surrounding the head or the whole figure in the representation of a sacred personage.

2. any encircling ring of light or color; halo.

3. Astronomy.,  corona.

4. Geology.,  a zone of altered country rock around an igneous intrusion.

aureole

/ ˈɔːrɪˌəʊl, ɔːˈriːələ /

noun

1. (esp in paintings of Christian saints and the deity) a border of light or radiance enveloping the head or sometimes the whole of a figure represented as holy

2. a less common word for halo

3. another name for corona

Word History and Origins

Origin of aureole¹

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English, from Latin aureola (corona) “golden (crown),” equivalent to aure(us) “golden” ( aureate ) + -ola, feminine of -olus noun suffix ( -ole ¹ )

Word History and Origins

Origin of aureole¹

C13: from Old French auréole, from Medieval Latin ( corōna ) aureola golden (crown), from Latin aureolus golden, from aurum gold

Example Sentences

Eve’s long, spiraling strands of hair blow out into a radiant aureole behind her shapely body, as if it were a starburst halo framing a divinity.

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Using her bare breasts as paintbrushes, Berlin, beginning in the ’70s, made “tit prints,” in which her pigment-laden aureoles produced forms that resemble balloons and angelfish.

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Like his crossed legs, Cannon’s head and upper torso are framed in flickering swipes of green, as if this is a depiction of a holy man surrounded by an incandescent aureole.

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And everything is framed by an aureole of crisp fern leaves reaching to the canvas’s edges — a many-pointed crown.

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They now form a feathered aureole framing the extraordinary figure of a nude black man who sits, tensely perched on a pillow, legs spread wide.

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