Byzantine

Main Entry:: ¹Byz·an·tine
Pronunciation:: \ˈbi-z^ən-ˌtēn, ˈbī-, -ˌtīn; bə-ˈzan-ˌ, bī-ˈ\
Function:: adjective
Date:: 1651

1: of, relating to, or characteristic of the ancient city of Byzantium2: of, relating to, or having the characteristics of a style of architecture developed in the Byzantine Empire especially in the fifth and sixth centuries featuring the dome carried on pendentives over a square and incrustation with marble veneering and with colored mosaics on grounds of gold3: of or relating to the churches using a traditional Greek rite and subject to Eastern canon law4often not capitalized a: of, relating to, or characterized by a devious and usually surreptitious manner of operation <a Byzantine power struggle> b: intricately involved : labyrinthine <rules of Byzantine complexity>

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