Defn: A metallic substance, resembling gold in color, but inferior in value; a mixed metal of the ancients, resembling brass; — called also aurichalcum, orichalcum, etc.
ORIEL O"ri*el, n. Etym: [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.)
Defn: 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.
ORIENCY
O"ri*en*cy, n. Etym: [See Orient.]
Defn: Brightness or strength of color. [R.] E. Waterhouse.
ORIENT O"ri*ent, a. Etym: [F., fr. L. oriens, -entis, p. pr. of oriri to rise. See Origin.]