The AI-powered English dictionary
plural oriels
(architecture) A large polygonal recess in a building, such as a bay window, forming a protrusion on the outer wall. quotations 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.
1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIV, in Romance and Reality. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], page 202
The beams that thro' the Oriel shine / Make prisms in every carven glass, / And beaker brimm'd with noble wine.
1842, Alfred Tennyson, “The Day-Dream. The Sleeping Palace.”, in Poems. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], page 151
(obsolete) A small apartment next to a hall, used for dining.