I. ˈbi-z ə n-ˌtēn, ˈbī-, -ˌtīn; bə-ˈzan-ˌ, bī-ˈ adjective
Date: 1651
1. : of, relating to, or characteristic of the ancient city of Byzantium
2. : 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 gold
3. : of or relating to the churches using a traditional Greek rite and subject to Eastern canon law
4. often 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
II. noun
Date: 1651
: a native or inhabitant of Byzantium