byzantine
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Belonging to the civilization of the Eastern Roman Empire between 331, when its capital was moved to Constantinople.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
bizuhntynSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbɪzəntaɪn
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Of or relating to or characteristic of the Byzantine Empire or the ancient city of Byzantium
history
Belonging to the civilization of the Eastern Roman Empire between 331, when its capital was moved to Constantinople, and 1453, when that capital was conquered by the Turks and ultimately renamed Istanbul.
figurativeoften lower-case
Overly complex or intricate, especially of bureaucracy.
architecture
Of a style of architecture prevalent in the Eastern Empire down to 1453, marked by the round arch springing from columns or piers, the dome supported upon pendentives, capitals elaborately sculptured, mosaic or other encrustations, etc.
Of or pertaining to Byzantium.
Alternative letter-case form of Byzantine (figurative senses only).
noun
A dark, metallic shade of violet.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Of or relating to or characteristic of the Byzantine Empire or the ancient city of Byzantium
Used this way, byzantine is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in historical writing contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Historical writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The style of architecture developed in the Byzantine Empire developed after the 5th century.
The Catholic Church as it existed in the Byzantine Empire.
A continuation of the Roman Empire in the Middle East after its division in 395.
The Greek language from about 600 to 1200 AD.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.