aureole
a radiance surrounding the head or the whole figure in the representation of a sacred personage.
any encircling ring of light or color; halo.
Astronomy. corona (def. 3).
Geology. a zone of altered country rock around an igneous intrusion.
Origin of aureole
1- Also au·re·o·la [aw-ree-uh-luh, uh-ree-]. /ɔˈri ə lə, əˈri-/.
Words Nearby aureole
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use aureole in a sentence
Its scintillating rays glorified the dark corner with the aureole of a great hope.
Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist | Alexander BerkmanEven her pretty hair seemed to have acquired a nervous life, and stood out in a quivering aureole.
Country Neighbors | Alice BrownHe was small and chunky in build, and nervous in his mind, and had red fuzzy hair that stuck up around his head like an aureole.
The Belted Seas | Arthur ColtonRound the big winged arm of the chair a wonderful, bright aureole of hair showed suddenly.
Molly Make-Believe | Eleanor Hallowell AbbottHe was clearly revealed by the lights, and was magnified by the aureole of tinted fog which surrounded him.
Blow The Man Down | Holman Day
British Dictionary definitions for aureole
aureola (ɔːˈriːələ)
/ (ˈɔːrɪˌəʊl) /
(esp in paintings of Christian saints and the deity) a border of light or radiance enveloping the head or sometimes the whole of a figure represented as holy
a less common word for halo
another name for corona (def. 2)
Origin of aureole
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for aureole
[ ôr′ē-ōl′ ]
A band of metamorphic rock surrounding a body of cooled magma. Aureoles form through the process of contact metamorphism. See more at contact metamorphism.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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