Meaning
Describes a system, set of rules, plot or intrigue that is fantastically complicated, devious and secretive - a labyrinthine bureaucracy operated through hidden channels and scheming, or an impossibly tangled storyline. The figurative adjective implies both needless complexity and a whiff of conspiracy. Capitalized, Byzantine still refers plainly to the Eastern Roman Empire, its people, art and architecture. Lowercase when figurative, capitalized for the empire and its art. Careful writers avoid implying Byzantine governance was uniquely devious; the figurative sense is a Western stereotype popularized in twentieth-century political commentary, not neutral history. Regional use: Global English.
Origin
From Byzantium, the Greek city on the Bosporus refounded by Constantine as Constantinople in 330 CE, via Late Latin Byzantinus. The literal English adjective is older than many guess: the OED's earliest evidence is 1599, verified directly, with subject areas running from coins through religion to architecture; Merriam-Webster gives 1651 and Etymonline 1770, so the references disagree on first attestation - reported. The famous figurative sense - complex, devious and intriguing, said of the royal court of Constantinople - is twentieth century: Etymonline dates it to 1937 and Merriam-Webster says it first appeared in the late 1930s and was popularized by frequent use about the Soviet Union, whose secrecy and despotism Westerners equated with the old Byzantine court.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- byzantinism
- byzantinize
Usage Examples
- Navigating the university's byzantine registration system required three forms, two deans, and a month of waiting.
- The committee's byzantine procedures buried the proposal in subcommittees until everyone forgot it existed.
- The novel's byzantine plot strands - forged letters, swapped heirs, a hidden codicil - finally converge in the last chapter.