Byzantine
adjective /baɪˈzæntaɪn/, /bɪˈzæntaɪn/
/ˈbɪzəntiːn/
[usually before noun]- connected with Byzantium or the Eastern Roman Empire
- used to describe architecture of the 5th to the 15th centuries in the Byzantine Empire, especially churches with high central domes and mosaicsTopics Buildingsc2
- (also byzantine)(formal) (of an idea, a system, etc.) complicated, secret and difficult to change
- an organization of byzantine complexity
Word Originlate 16th cent.: from Latin Byzantinus, from Byzantium, the ancient Greek city founded in the 7th century BC, rebuilt by Constantine the Great in AD 324-30 as Constantinople.