Oriel (?), n. [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.]
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1. A gallery for minstrels. [Obs.] W. Hamper.
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2. A small apartment next a hall, where certain persons were accustomed to dine; a sort of recess. [Obs.] Cowell.
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3. (Arch.) A bay window. See Bay window.
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The beams that thro' the oriel shine
Make prisms in every carven glass. Tennyson.
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&hand_; 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.
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