'Byzantine' definitions:

Definition of 'Byzantine'

From: WordNet
adjective
Of or relating to the Eastern Orthodox Church or the rites performed in it; "Byzantine monks"; "Byzantine rites"
adjective
Of or relating to or characteristic of the Byzantine Empire or the ancient city of Byzantium
adjective
Highly complex or intricate and occasionally devious; "the Byzantine tax structure"; "Byzantine methods for holding on to his chairmanship"; "convoluted legal language"; "convoluted reasoning"; "the plot was too involved"; "a knotty problem"; "got his way by labyrinthine maneuvering"; "Oh, what a tangled web we weave"- Sir Walter Scott; "tortuous legal procedures"; "tortuous negotiations lasting for months" [syn: Byzantine, convoluted, involved, knotty, tangled, tortuous]
noun
A native or inhabitant of Byzantium or of the Byzantine Empire

Definition of 'Byzantine'

From: GCIDE
  • Byzantine \By*zan"tine\ (b[i^]*z[a^]n"t[i^]n), a. Of or pertaining to Byzantium. -- n. A native or inhabitant of Byzantium, now Constantinople; sometimes, applied to an inhabitant of the modern city of Constantinople. [Written also Bizantine.] [1913 Webster]
  • Byzantine church, the Eastern or Greek church, as distinguished from the Western or Roman or Latin church. See under Greek.
  • Byzantine empire, the Eastern Roman or Greek empire from a. d. 364 or a. d. 395 to the capture of Constantinople by the Turks, a. d. 1453.
  • Byzantine historians, historians and writers (Zonaras, Procopius, etc.) who lived in the Byzantine empire. --P. Cyc.
  • Byzantine style (Arch.), a style of architecture developed in the Byzantine empire.
  • Note: Its leading forms are the round arch, the dome, the pillar, the circle, and the cross. The capitals of the pillars are of endless variety, and full of invention. The mosque of St. Sophia, Constantinople, and the church of St. Mark, Venice, are prominent examples of Byzantine architecture. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Byzantine'

From: GCIDE
  • Byzant \Byz"ant\, Byzantine \Byz"an*tine\ (-[a^]n"t[imac]n) n.[OE. besant, besaunt, F. besant, fr. LL. Byzantius, Byzantinus, fr. Byzantium.] (Numis.) A gold coin, so called from being coined at Byzantium. See Bezant. [1913 Webster]

Synonyms of 'Byzantine'

From: Moby Thesaurus

Words containing 'Byzantine'