Category:Oriel

O"ri*el, n. Etym: [of. oriol gallery, corridor, ll. oriolum portico, Hall, prob. fr. L. aureolus gilded, applied to an apartment decorated With gilding. See oriole.] [formerly written also oriol, oryal, Oryall.]

1. A gallery for minstrels. [obs.] W. Hamper.

2. A small apartment next a hall, where certain persons were Accustomed to dine; a sort of recess. [obs.] Cowell.

3. (arch.)

Defn: a bay window. See bay window. The beams that thro' the oriel shine make prisms in every carven Glass. Tennyson.

Note: there is no generally admitted difference between a bay window And an oriel. In the united states the latter name is often applied To bay windows which are small, and either polygonal or round; also, To such as are corbeled out from the wall instead of resting on the Ground.