The Collaborative International Dictionary
Oriel \O"ri*el\, 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.]
A gallery for minstrels. [Obs.]
--W. Hamper.A small apartment next a hall, where certain persons were accustomed to dine; a sort of recess. [Obs.]
--Cowell.-
(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.