oeil-de-boeuf

American  

[œ-y^uh-duh-bœf] / ˌœ yə dəˈbœf /

noun

plural

oeils-de-boeuf

1. a comparatively small round or oval window, as in a frieze.

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oeil-de-boeuf British  

/ œjdəbœf /

noun

1. a circular window, esp in 17th- and 18th-century French architecture

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Etymology

Origin of oeil-de-boeuf

< French: literally, bull's eye

Example Sentences

This back-stairs erudition gave to her conversation a flavor of "oeil-de-boeuf"; her soubrette gossip passed muster for courtly wit.

From Sons of the Soil by Balzac, Honoré de

This movement conveyed him to a sort of oeil-de-boeuf, an octagon vestibule, or small hall, from which various rooms opened.

From Woodstock; or, the Cavalier by Scott, Walter, Sir

The boxes, with the innocent ignorance of the oeil-de-boeuf, propose to maintain the old order, to stand by Bellini and Donizetti and the last half-century.

From From the Easy Chair — Volume 01 by Curtis, George William

He had, on the top floor of the charming house in the Rue Vernet, a small bachelor flat, lit by round windows, which he called his "oeil-de-boeuf."

From A Mummer's Tale by Roche, Charles E.