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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, (def 3).
Geology. a zone of altered country rock around an igneous intrusion.
a white or colored circle or set of concentric circles of light seen around a luminous body, especially around the sun or moon.
Meteorology. such a circle or set of circles having a small radius and ranging in color from blue inside to red outside, attributable to the diffraction caused by thin clouds, mist, or sometimes dust (distinguished from ).
Also called aureola, aureole. Astronomy. a faintly luminous envelope outside of the sun’s chromosphere, the inner part consisting of highly ionized elements.
a long, straight, untapered cigar, rounded at the closed end.
Botany. a crownlike appendage, especially one on the inner side of a corolla, as in the narcissus.
Anatomy. the upper portion or crown of a part, as of the head.
Electricity, .
Architecture. the projecting, slablike member of a classical cornice supported by the bed molding or by modillions, dentils, etc., and supporting the cymatium.
the tonsure of a cleric.
Ecclesiastical. a gold-colored stripe around the lower edge of a clerical headdress, as of a miter.
a chandelier of wrought metal, having the form of one or more concentric hoops.
Historical Examples

aureola, a wreath of light represented as encircling the brows of the saints and martyrs.
The Nuttall Encyclopaedia Edited by Rev. James Wood

“It is the aureola which has stolen into my heart,” thought Cristobal.
Fairy Book Sophie May

The balloon threw large shadows on this heap of clouds, and was surrounded as by an aureola.
A Winter Amid the Ice Jules Verne

The rays quivered everywhere in the air, and the aureola filled the world.
Psyche Louis Couperus

Sketches were structureless, as any aureola formed by stray sunlight grazing the moon might naturally be.
Astronomy David Todd

The child replied by a slight motion of the head; and the aureola trembled like sunlight on the water.
Fairy Book Sophie May

The captain of the aureola was greatly perturbed, and he promptly ordered his gig to be manned to take him to the Claverhouse.
Looking Seaward Again Walter Runciman

The aureola, when enveloping the whole body, is generally oval or elliptical in form, but is occasionally circular or quatrefoil.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 8 Various

The master of the aureola was worn out with anxiety and want of rest, for his vessel had been ashore for forty-eight hours.
Looking Seaward Again Walter Runciman

They are generally surrounded by an aureola known as the penumbra, and sensibly less luminous than the other portions of the orb.
Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal, No. 441 Various

noun (pl) -nas, -nae (-niː)
a circle of light around a luminous body, usually the moon
Also called aureole. the outermost region of the sun’s atmosphere, visible as a faint halo during a solar eclipse
(architect) the flat vertical face of a cornice just above the soffit
something resembling a corona or halo
a circular chandelier suspended from the roof of a church
(botany)

the trumpet-shaped part of the corolla of daffodils and similar plants; the crown
a crown of leafy outgrowths from inside the petals of some flowers

(anatomy) a crownlike structure, such as the top of the head
(zoology) the head or upper surface of an animal, such as the body of an echinoid or the disc and arms of a crinoid
a long cigar with blunt ends
(physics) short for corona discharge
noun
(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 (sense 2)
n.

early 13c., from Latin aureola (corona), fem. diminutive of aureus “golden” (see aureate). In medieval Christianity, the celestial crown worn by martyrs, virgins, etc., as victors over the flesh.
n.

1650s, from Latin corona “crown, garland” (see crown (n.)).

corona co·ro·na (kə-rō’nə)
n. pl. co·ro·nas or co·ro·nae (-nē)
The crownlike upper portion of a body part or structure, such as the top of the head.
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.

See corona.

corona
(kə-rō’nə)
Plural coronas or coronae (kə-rō’nē)

The luminous, irregular envelope of gas outside the chromosphere of a star. The Sun’s corona is composed of ionized gas between approximately 1,000,000°K and 2,000,000°K and has an extremely low density. This phenomenon is visible only during a solar eclipse.

A faintly colored luminous ring appearing to surround a celestial body (such as the Moon or Sun) that is visible through a haze or thin cloud, caused by diffraction of light from suspended matter in the intervening medium. Also called aureole.

A faint glow of the air in the region of very strong electric fields, caused by ionization of the air molecules and flow of current in that region in corona discharge.

The crownlike upper portion of a bodily part or structure, such as the top of the head.

A crown-shaped structure on the inner side of the petals of some flowers, such as the daffodil.