aureole

[ awr-ee-ohl ]

/ ˈɔr iˌoʊl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR aureole ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

any encircling ring of light or color; halo.

Astronomy. corona(def 3).

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

RELATED WORDS

corona, halo

Nearby words

aureate language, aurelia, aurelian, aurelius, aurene glass, aureole, aureolin, aureomycin, aureus, auri-, auric

Also au·re·o·la

[aw-ree-uh-luh, uh-ree-] /ɔˈri ə lə, əˈri-/.

Origin of aureole

1175–1225; Middle English < Latin aureola (corona) golden (crown), equivalent to aure(us) golden (see aureate) + -ola, feminine of -olus -ole¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for aureole

Years ago, I recall your surrounding a certain young man with an aureole of idealism.
A Woman of the World|Ella Wheeler Wilcox
An aureole of something more than human, of something entirely spiritual, seemed to transfigure her loveliness.
The conquest of Rome|Matilde Serao
There is the charm of Evanescence, that which lends to supreme beauty and grace an aureole of Pathos.
The Raven|Edgar Allan Poe
The sun was streaming through the doorway, so that the slim, graceful figure and lovely face were set as in an aureole.
Nell, of Shorne Mills|Charles Garvice

"If she had an aureole round her head, I should take her for an angel," he thought to himself, and stood watching her.
Wife in Name Only|Charlotte M. Braeme (Bertha M. Clay)

British Dictionary definitions for aureole

aureole

aureola (ɔːˈriːələ)

/ (ˈɔːrɪˌəʊl) /

noun

(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

a less common word for halo

another name for corona (def. 2)

Word Origin for aureole

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

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

Science definitions for aureole

aureole

[ ôr′ē-ōl′ ]

A band of metamorphic rock surrounding a body of cooled magma. Aureoles form through the process of contact metamorphism. See more at contact metamorphism.

See corona.