Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A circle of light or radiance surrounding the head or body of a representation of a deity or holy person; a halo.
- n. Astronomy See corona.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A luminous emanation or cloud surrounding a figure or an object; an aureola.
- To surround or invest with an aureole.
- n. The zone of contact-metamorphism about an intrusive igneous mass. It is equivalent to *contact-zone.
Wiktionary
- n. astronomy Corona.
- n. A circle of light or halo around the head of a deity or a saint
- n. by extension Any luminous or colored ring that encircles something.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an indication of radiant light drawn around the head of a saint
- n. the outermost region of the sun's atmosphere; visible as a white halo during a solar eclipse
Etymologies
- From Old French aureole, from Medieval Latin aureola (corona) ("golden (crown)"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, from Late Latin (corōna) aureola, golden (crown), feminine of Latin aureolus, golden, from aureus, from aurum, gold. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Outside the aureole are the symbols of the four Evangelists: the Angel of St. Matthew and the Eagle of St. John one on each side above the Winged Lion of St. Mark and the Ox of St. Luke similarly placed below.”
“Far off and far up there was a glow of rosy light, and within the aureole was her face, full of sorrow, looking at me with pity in every feature.”
Bidwell's Travels, from Wall Street to London Prison Fifteen Years in Solitude
“The aureole, that is the halo which surrounds an entire figure, naturally takes the shape of an oval, though if it is used for a bust, it readily resumes the circular form.”
“For the virgins shall have the crown that is called aureole, they only shall sing the new song, they shall be clad with vestments of the same with Jesu Christ, and joy always with him, and they shall follow always the Lamb.”
“The single greatest problem posed by Black's appearance on screen today is a phenomenon sometimes referred to as the aureole of anachronistic atrociousness, whereby people who did not always suck are surrounded by a glimmering halo of barely visible non-sucking that evokes vague memories of the time when they were not fully fledged enemies of the people.”
“It gave to her a kind of aureole, as if her beauty shed a lustre round her.”
“A more usual name is "aureole", which in a restricted sense means an oval or elliptical ray of light like a medallion.”
“Infant Jesus, as you pleased, but the sculptor had adorned the head with a kind of aureole; and so the fanatics declared that it was a mocking of God.”
“The child might be a Cupid or an Infant Jesus, as you pleased, but the sculptor had adorned the head with a kind of aureole; and so the fanatics declared that it was a mocking of God.”
“His smooth-shaven cheeks were somewhat hollow; his eyes behind his glasses were deep and solemn; his frame was the frame of one who subdues the flesh by fasting; snow-white hair, curling inward at the back of his neck, made a kind of aureole around his thin face; he looked for all the world as he stood barefoot in his long white gown, like one of those saints you see in painted glass windows in a church.”
The Old Tobacco Shop A True Account of What Befell a Little Boy in Search of Adventure
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘aureole’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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Gene Wolfe
Please contribute your favorite words from any of Gene Wolfe’s books to this prize-winning list.
In case you come across words in this list which are too commonplace to fit in, please ...gallipot, roost, badelaire, oblesque, execration, dhole, amschaspand, arctother, chalcedony, penitence, asimi, autarch and 839 more...
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Rare Words - A
Not just rare words, but thousands of RARE WORDS WITH DEFINITIONS.
If you want to see the definitions, too, go to
http://phrontistery.i...aba, abacinate, abactor, abaculus, abaft, abampere, abapical, abarticular, abasement, abasia, abask, abatis and 1214 more...
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my fab list
blowsabella, aperçu, froideur, salubrious, abject, gallipot, mumchance, wainscot, virago, macerate, lascivious, clandestine and 181 more...
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2nd part
prelude, ample, escalate, prototype, accession, acquisition, archives, zealot, indict, verdict, intimidating, timid and 454 more...
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phrontistery - a
from phrontistery.info
aba, abacinate, abactor, abaculus, abaft, abampere, abasia, abask, abb, abba, abbatial, abra and 1214 more...
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infin8y's list
words i love
paradox, relativity, perspective, truth, shiiin, effervescent, aureole, love, hope, crystalline, tranquillity, pneumonoultramicr...
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Relating To: The Sky
Words of, about, or relating to the heavens.
firmament, horizon, celestial, pleiades, supernal, welkin, cerulean, hypaethral, abatjour, upaithric, canopus, cerulific and 40 more...
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xulilux's list
leviathan, destitute, iapetus, caesura, ineffable, eschew, phosphene, fungible, antediluvian, nomenclature, mottle, europa and 84 more...
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ancient signs
ouroboros, calypso, la sirene, Medusa, chthonic, aureole, colophon, succubus, peri, homunculus, zephyr, numinous and 56 more...
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color, light & sight
albedo, chromatography, chromatic, tone, penumbra, superluminal, diaphanous, iridescent, amethyst, opalescent, celadon, lapis and 38 more...
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Chennessy's Words
philistine, messianic, dyad, cult, bourgeois, blot, ploy, polyglot, lingua franca, cumbersome, lumber, petit-bourgeois and 446 more...
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GRE 3500
abase, abash, abate, aberrant, abeyance, abjure, ablution, abut, accede, accentuate, acerbity, acetic and 133 more...
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GRE Words
abjure, unswear, state, rescission, indemnification, ab, reny, abnegate, vitiated, vitiate, adumbrated, abash and 378 more...
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My GRE words
abase, abate, aberrant, abet, abeyance, abject, abjure, ablution, abnegation, abortive, abrogate, abscission and 140 more...
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CCW
Commonly Confused Words
wreath, wreathe, titillate, titivate, proscribe, prescribe, pedal, peddle, mettle, metal, palette, palate and 132 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for aureole.

bilby "Sparse blond hair rose like an aureole from the back of his neck. His skin was pink and clean as though he had just come from a steam bath and he smoked a long Russian cigarette."
- 'The Colour Of Blood', Brian Moore. Jan 3, 2008
brtom "His scarlet beak blazes within the aureole of his straw hat."
Joyce, Ulysses, 15 Feb 5, 2007