O·ri·el n.  [Formerly written also oriol, oryal, oryall.]
 1. A gallery for minstrels. [Obs.]
 2. A small apartment next a hall, where certain persons were accustomed to dine; a sort of recess. [Obs.]
 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.
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 O·ry·al O·ry·all, n. See Oriel.
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