Illustrated Architecture Dictionary

Oriel

A projecting window which juts out from the main wall of the building but does not reach to the ground, and is often supported from below with a corbel or bracket

Derived from Anglo-Norman oriell and post-classical Latin oriolum, both meaning gallery or porch

Found in medieval English residential architecture, Tudor Revival, Gothic Revival and Queen Anne styles

A bow window is a curved bay window

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Examples from Buffalo architecture:

• Illustration above: 43 Nottingham Ter.
  
  
• 993 Delaware Avenue
  
  
• 483 Delaware Ave. Midway
  
  
• 242 Linwood Ave.
  
  
• 429 Linwood Avenue
  
  
• 443 Linwood Ave.
  
  
• Stephen Clement House
  
  
• 321 Ellicott Street Detail

• 33 Days Park
  
  
• Red Jacket Apartments
  
  
• Maytham Houses
  
  
• Miller Mansion
  
  
• George L. Williams House

Other examples:

• Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
  
  
• Netherlands Institute for War Documentation, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  
  
• Salisbury, England
  
  
• The King's House, Salisbury Close, England
  
  
• Pedlar People Sheetmetal Building Material Catalog: Oriel window, Canada

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