/ baɪˈzæntaɪn; bɪ-; -tiːn; NAmE ˈbɪzəntiːn/ adjective [ usually before noun ]
1.
connected with Byzantium or the Eastern Roman Empire
2.
used to describe architecture of the 5th to the 15th centuries in the Byzantine Empire, especially churches with high central domes and mosaics
3.
(also byzantine ) ( formal ) ( of an idea, a system, etc. ) complicated, secret and difficult to change :
an organization of byzantine complexity
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WORD ORIGIN
late 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.