torii

[tawr-ee-ee, tohr-]

noun, plural to·ri·i.

(in Japan) a form of decorative gateway or portal, consisting of two upright wooden posts connected at the top by two horizontal crosspieces, commonly found at the entrance to Shinto temples.

Origin of torii

1720–30; < Japanese, equivalent to tori bird + (w)i perch

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for torii

Historical Examples of torii

This latter I will describe when Japan, the land of the torii, is the topic.
Travels in the Far East
Ellen Mary Hayes Peck
All the beautiful gateways or torii, as they are called, are works of art.
The Critic in the Orient
George Hamlin Fitch
Kiyonobu I, the founder of the Torii line, was born in 1664 and died in 1729.
Chats on Japanese Prints
Arthur Davison Ficke
In subject and in manner, it is the Torii tradition that he carries on.
Chats on Japanese Prints
Arthur Davison Ficke
The usual etymology of Torii is bird-perch; from Torĭ, a bird.
An Artist's Letters From Japan
John La Farge

British Dictionary definitions for torii

torii

noun plural -rii

a gateway, esp one at the entrance to a Japanese Shinto temple

Word Origin for torii

C19: from Japanese, literally: a perch for birds

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 torii

singular and plural, "gateway to a Shinto temple," Japanese, from tori "bird" + i "to sit, to perch."