WordNet Dictionary- [n] the style of architecture developed in the Byzantine Empire; massive domes with square bases and rounded arches and spires and minarets and much use of mosaics
- [adj] characterized by elaborate scheming and intrigue; devious; "Byzantine methods for holding on to his chairmanship"; "a fine hand for Byzantine deals and cozy arrangements"
- [adj] highly involved or intricate; "the Byzantine tax structure"; "convoluted legal language"; "convoluted reasoning"; "intricate needlework"; "an intricate labyrinth of refined phraseology"; "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"
- [adj] of or relating to or characteristic of the Byzantine Empire or ancient Byzantium; "Byzantine art and architecture"
- [adj] of or relating to the Eastern Orthodox Church; "Byzantine monks"; "Byzantine rites"
Webster's 1913 Dictionary\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}.]
{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.
Computing DictionaryA term describing any system that has so many labyrinthine internal interconnections that it would be impossible to simplify by separation into loosely coupled or linked components.
The city of Byzantium, later renamed Constantinople and then Istanbul, and the Byzantine Empire were vitiated by a bureaucratic overelaboration bordering on lunacy: quadruple banked agencies, dozens or even scores of superfluous levels and officials with high flown titles unrelated to their actual function, if any.
Access to the Emperor and his council was controlled by powerful and inscrutable eunuchs and by rival sports factions.
[Edward Gibbon, "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire"].
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