What does "oriel" mean?
Oriel: A small apartment next a hall, where certain persons were accustomed to dine; a sort of recess. [Obs.] Cowell.
Additional senses
- 2.(Arch.) 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.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00