Oriel windows are a form of bay window

Bay window

A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room, either square or polygonal in plan. The angles most commonly used on the inside corners of the bay are 90, 135 and 150 degrees. Bay windows are often associated with Victorian architecture...

 commonly found in Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

, which project from the main wall of the building but do not reach to the ground. Corbel

Corbel

In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...

s or brackets

Bracket (architecture)

A bracket is an architectural member made of wood, stone, or metal that overhangs a wall to support or carry weight. It may also support a statue, the spring of an arch, a beam, or a shelf. Brackets are often in the form of scrolls, and can be carved, cast, or molded. They can be entirely...

 are often used to support this kind of window. They are seen in combination with the Tudor arch

Tudor arch

A four-centred arch, also known as a depressed arch or Tudor arch, is a low, wide type of arch with a pointed apex. It is much wider than its height and gives the visual effect of having been flattened under pressure...

. This type of window was also used in Victorian Architecture

Victorian architecture

The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...

 in the Queen Anne Style. Unlike a bay window, an oriel window is only found projecting from an upper floor..

Oriel windows are seen in Arab architecture in the form of mashrabiya

Mashrabiya

Mashrabiya or Shanasheel is the Arabic term given to a type of projecting oriel window enclosed with carved wood latticework located on the second storey of a building or higher, often lined with stained glass. The mashrabiy is an element of traditional Arabic architecture used since the middle...

.

In Indian culture

Culture of India

India's languages, religions, dance, music, architecture, food and customs differ from place to place within the country, but nevertheless possess a commonality....

 these windows and balconies are projected from the street front, providing an area in which women could peer out and see the activities below while remaining invisible.

Origins

According to the OED, the word "oriel" is derived from Anglo-Norman oriell and post-classical Latin oriolum, both meaning gallery or porch, perhaps from classical Latin aulaeum, curtain.

• Oriel College, Oxford took its name from a balcony or oriel window forming a feature of a property which occupied the site the college now stands on.

• Oriel Chambers
  Oriel Chambers
  Oriel Chambers is the world's first metal framed glass curtain walled building. Designed by architect Peter Ellis and built in 1864, it comprises set over five floors...
  
   in Liverpool
  Liverpool
  Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
  
  was a very controversial building when it was built, featuring an entire facade of glass oriel windows. It is seen as an early example of modernism.