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.]

1. A gallery for minstrels. [Obs.]

--W. Hamper.

2. A small apartment next a hall, where certain persons were accustomed to dine; a sort of recess. [Obs.]

--Cowell.

3. (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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)