n. [ OF. oriol gallery, corridor, LL. oriolum portico, hall, prob. fr. L. aureolus gilded, applied to an apartment decorated with gilding. See Oriole. ]
The beams that thro' the oriel shine
Make prisms in every carven glass. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]
☞ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]