Englishfor English speakers
Byzantine
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adjective
(= convoluted, involved, knotty, tangled, tortuous)
highly complex or intricate and occasionally devious
the Byzantine tax structure
Byzantine methods for holding on to his chairmanship
convoluted legal language
convoluted reasoning
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
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adjective
of or relating to or characteristic of the Byzantine Empire or the ancient city of Byzantium
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adjective
of or relating to the Eastern Orthodox Church or the rites performed in it
Byzantine monks
Byzantine rites
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noun
a native or inhabitant of Byzantium or of the Byzantine Empire
rite
Noun
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A rite is the proper way of performing a ceremony.
Her body was buried according to the rites of the church.