[awr-ee-ohl] 
| 1. | a radiance surrounding the head or the whole figure in the representation of a sacred personage. |
| 2. | any encircling ring of light or color; halo. |
| 3. | Astronomy. corona (def. 3). |
| 4. | Geology. a zone of altered country rock around an igneous intrusion. |
[kuh-roh-nuh] [-nee] . | 1. | a white or colored circle or set of concentric circles of light seen around a luminous body, esp. around the sun or moon. |
| 2. | 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 halo ). |
| 3. | Also called aureola, aureole. Astronomy. a faintly luminous envelope outside of the sun's chromosphere, the inner part consisting of highly ionized elements. |
| 4. | a long, straight, untapered cigar, rounded at the closed end. |
| 5. | Botany. a crownlike appendage, esp. one on the inner side of a corolla, as in the narcissus. |
| 6. | Anatomy. the upper portion or crown of a part, as of the head. |
| 7. | Electricity. corona discharge. |
| 8. | Architecture. the projecting, slablike member of a classical cornice supported by the bed molding or by modillions, dentils, etc., and supporting the cymatium. |
| 9. | the tonsure of a cleric. |
| 10. | Ecclesiastical. a gold-colored stripe around the lower edge of a clerical headdress, as of a miter. |
| 11. | a chandelier of wrought metal, having the form of one or more concentric hoops. |
| au·re·ole (ôr'ē-ōl') n.
[Middle English, from Late Latin (corōna) aureola, golden (crown), feminine of Latin aureolus, golden, from aureus, from aurum, gold.] |
| co·ro·na (kə-rō'nə) n. pl. co·ro·nas or co·ro·nae (-nē)
[Latin corōna; see crown.] |
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
brightly illuminated area surrounding an atmospheric light source, such as the Sun, when the light is propagated through a medium containing many sizes of particles or droplets that are large compared to the wavelength of the light. Because the wavelength of visible light is about 0.00005 cm (0.5 micrometre), particles of size greater than about 0.0001 cm (1 micrometre) will give rise to aureoles. Physically, aureoles are caused by the diffraction of large amounts of the incident light around the edges of the particles in directions deviating only slightly from that of the light source. In the atmosphere, aureoles may frequently be observed when a thin cloud passes between the Sun or Moon and the observer. If the cloud is composed of a wide range of droplet sizes, then the aureole will be observed. It is generally white in colour, but a brownish outer ring and bluish inner edge may sometimes be observed. Dense atmospheric haze also produces an easily observable solar aureole, apparent as a very bright region immediately surrounding the Sun, with a gradual tapering off of brightness with an increasing angle from the Sun.
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iˌoʊl
nē
