Byzantine

adj 1: of or relating to the Eastern Orthodox Church; "Byzantine

monks"; "Byzantine rites" [syn: {Byzantine}]

2: of or relating to or characteristic of the Byzantine Empire

or ancient Byzantium; "Byzantine art and architecture"

[syn: {Byzantine}]

3: highly involved or intricate; "the Byzantine tax structure";

"convoluted legal language"; "convoluted reasoning"; "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" [syn: {Byzantine},

{convoluted}, {intricate}, {involved}, {knotty}, {labyrinthine},

{tangled}, {tortuous}]

4: characterized by elaborate scheming and intrigue; devious;

"Byzantine methods for holding on to his chairmanship"; "a

fine hand for Byzantine deals and cozy arrangements" [syn:

{Byzantine}]

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 [syn: {Byzantine},

{Byzantine architecture}]

Byzantine

A 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"].

(1999-01-15)