Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Oriel
O′ri-el
,Noun.
[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.)
A bay window. See
Bay window
. The beams that thro’ the
Make prisms in every carven glass.
oriel
shineMake prisms in every carven glass.
Tennyson.
☞ 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.