Illustration of torii
torii
noun
to·rii ˈtȯr-ē-ˌē 
plural torii
: a Japanese gateway of light construction commonly built at the approach to a Shinto shrine
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Guests entered the fourth Annual Cherry Blossom Festival on March 21 through a torii gate at the Hot Springs Convention Center surrounded by branches of tissue-paper cherry blossoms and to the sound of a taiko drummer. 
Cary Jenkins, Arkansas Online, 4 Apr. 2021 The Fushimi Inari Taisha is a meandering orange tunnel of torii gates that winds its way for miles through the forest of Mount Inari. Jennifer Nalewicki, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Apr. 2020 The list by JRPass includes gorgeous and iconic places in Japan, including Mount Fuji, Himeji Castle, the busy Shibuya Crossing, Hitachi Seaside Park, Tokyo Station, torii-gates at Fushimi Inari Taisha, the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, and much more. Andrea Romano, Travel + Leisure, 8 June 2020 Midcentury prints by the Lithuanian-American social-realist artist Ben Shahn, another family friend, hang on nearly every wall in wooden frames made by Nakashima to resemble torii (Japanese temple gates). Michael Snyder, New York Times, 16 Mar. 2020 The shrine’s famous torii gate, however, is undergoing renovations that began in June 2019. Jay Cannon, USA TODAY, 5 Mar. 2020 Visitors walk along winding paths and pass through towering torii gates before entering. Lindsay Cohn, USA TODAY, 2 Jan. 2020 En route to the shrine, meet a local Shugendo priest to learn firsthand about this ascetic Buddhist sect that focuses on the connections between humans and nature, and pass under the majestic Oyunohara torii (wooden gateway). National Geographic, 12 June 2019 There are Shinto torii gates at the base of the lifts and a few good-luck temple bells. Adam H. Graham, Condé Nast Traveler, 11 Oct. 2018 See More
Cary Jenkins, Arkansas Online, 4 Apr. 2021 The Fushimi Inari Taisha is a meandering orange tunnel of torii gates that winds its way for miles through the forest of Mount Inari. Jennifer Nalewicki, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Apr. 2020 The list by JRPass includes gorgeous and iconic places in Japan, including Mount Fuji, Himeji Castle, the busy Shibuya Crossing, Hitachi Seaside Park, Tokyo Station, torii-gates at Fushimi Inari Taisha, the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, and much more. Andrea Romano, Travel + Leisure, 8 June 2020 Midcentury prints by the Lithuanian-American social-realist artist Ben Shahn, another family friend, hang on nearly every wall in wooden frames made by Nakashima to resemble torii (Japanese temple gates). Michael Snyder, New York Times, 16 Mar. 2020 The shrine’s famous torii gate, however, is undergoing renovations that began in June 2019. Jay Cannon, USA TODAY, 5 Mar. 2020 Visitors walk along winding paths and pass through towering torii gates before entering. Lindsay Cohn, USA TODAY, 2 Jan. 2020 En route to the shrine, meet a local Shugendo priest to learn firsthand about this ascetic Buddhist sect that focuses on the connections between humans and nature, and pass under the majestic Oyunohara torii (wooden gateway). National Geographic, 12 June 2019 There are Shinto torii gates at the base of the lifts and a few good-luck temple bells. Adam H. Graham, Condé Nast Traveler, 11 Oct. 2018 See More Word History
Etymology
Japanese
First Known Use
1727, in the meaning defined above