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

How cold to hear them now, here, in my room, echoing from varnished beams, off-stage in my oriel of yesterday.

From Voices from the Past by Bartlett, Paul Alexander

The Old Hall, of the 15th century, enlarged in the 16th, is a picturesque building, forming three sides of a quadrangle, partially timber-framed, but having a beautiful oriel window and other parts of stone.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 4 "G" to "Gaskell, Elizabeth" by Various

Not less so are latticework galleries, which are often thrown across the street to connect the two houses of wealthy residents, and the sitting-rooms with oriel windows, which likewise bridge the roadways.

From Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan, Volume I (of 2) Including a Summer in the Upper Karun Region and a Visit to the Nestorian Rayahs by Bird, Isabella L. (Isabella Lucy)