Oriel
name, noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A large polygonal recess in a building, such as a bay window, forming a protrusion on the outer wall.
"The middle window of the oriel before her, just caught and reflected back the crimson light and colour. The ground below looked bright and warm compared with the shade around."
- 2 a projecting bay window corbeled or cantilevered out from a wall wordnet
- 3 A small apartment next to a hall, used for dining. obsolete
- 1 Ellipsis of Oriel College, Oxford. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, informal
Example
More examples"The middle window of the oriel before her, just caught and reflected back the crimson light and colour. The ground below looked bright and warm compared with the shade around."
Etymology
From Middle English oriel, from Old French oriol (“gallery, corridor”), Late Latin oriolum (“portico, hall”), probably from Latin aureolus (“gilded”), applied to an apartment decorated with gilding. See oriole. Or a diminutive of Latin os (“mouth”).
Related phrases
More for "oriel"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.