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

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

Word Origin and History for aureole

aureole

early 13c., from Latin aureola (corona), fem. diminutive of aureus "golden" (see aureate). In medieval Christianity, the celestial crown worn by martyrs, virgins, etc., as victors over the flesh.

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.