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Byzantine - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'Byzantine' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Byzantine [ a.]
- Of or pertaining to Byzantium.
2 . Byzantine [ n.]
- A gold coin, so called from being coined at Byzantium. See Bezant.
- A native or inhabitant of Byzantium, now Constantinople; sometimes, applied to an inhabitant of the modern city of Constantinople. C () C is the third letter of the English alphabet. It is from the Latin letter C, which in old Latin represented the sounds of k, and g (in go); its original value being the latter. In Anglo-Saxon words, or Old English before the Norman Conquest, it always has the sound of k. The Latin C was the same letter as the Greek /, /, and came from the Greek alphabet. The Greeks got it from the Ph/nicians. The English name of C is from the Latin name ce, and was derived, probably, through the French. Etymologically C is related to g, h, k, q, s (and other sibilant sounds). Examples of these relations are in L. acutus, E. acute, ague; E. acrid, eager, vinegar; L. cornu, E. horn; E. cat, kitten; E. coy, quiet; L. circare, OF. cerchier, E. search.

Meaning of 'Byzantine' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . byzantine [ a]
Meaning (1):
- of or relating to the Eastern Orthodox Church or the rites performed in it
Example in sentence:
  • Byzantine monks;
  • Byzantine rites
2 . byzantine [ s]
Meaning (2):
- highly complex or intricate and occasionally devious
Example in sentence:
  • a knotty problem;
  • Byzantine methods for holding on to his chairmanship;
  • convoluted legal language;
  • convoluted reasoning;
  • got his way by labyrinthine maneuvering;
  • Oh, what a tangled web we weave;
  • the Byzantine tax structure;
  • the plot was too involved;
  • tortuous legal procedures;
  • tortuous negotiations lasting for months

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