oriel

American  

[awr-ee-uhl, ohr‑] / ˈɔr i əl, ˈoʊr‑ /

noun

1. a bay window, especially one cantilevered or corbeled out from a wall.

2. (in medieval architecture) a large bay window of a hall or chamber.

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Etymology

Origin of oriel

1350–1400; Middle English < Anglo-French oriol porch, passage, gallery, perhaps ≪ Latin aureolus “gilded”

Example Sentences

Wrought-iron balconies, turrets, oriel windows: block after block, the residential facades were unique and homogenous at the same time.

From New York Times • Dec. 23, 2011

So, let's go ... through the neo-gothic oriel window!

From The Guardian • Jul. 2, 2010

One oriel window was discovered through the white jasmine that clustered around it, and the verbenas, heliotrope, and scarlet geraniums that crept beneath it from the ground.

From Norston's Rest by Stephens, Ann S. (Ann Sophia)

Their laughter reached me as I sat solitary and alone in the oriel window, over which lace curtains fell, and were kindled up like snow by the lights from without.

From Wives and Widows; or The Broken Life by Stephens, Ann S. (Ann Sophia)

The moonlight came flickering through the oriel window, as if a bunch of silver arrows had been shivered against it, half illuminating the room with a soft, beautiful light.

From Norston's Rest by Stephens, Ann S. (Ann Sophia)