Bizantine

Adjective

Byzantine (comparative more Byzantine, superlative most Byzantine)

1. Of or pertaining to Byzantium.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. (figuratively, lowercase, often) Overly complex or intricate, especially of bureaucracy.
   • a Byzantine system of regulations
5. (figuratively, lowercase, often) Rigid, unceasing, inflexible.
   • Novelists, poets, and film directors vied with one another in Byzantine adulation of Stalin: this reached its peak in the post-war years, but was already highly developed in the period we are considering.1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume III: The Breakdown, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozkład (in...
6. (figuratively, lowercase, often) Devious and stealthy.
   • It’s also important to note that this analysis deals solely with intrinsic failure, or the odds of a conspiracy being exposed intentionally or accidentally by actors involved—extrinsic analysis by non-participants would also increase the odds of detection, rendering such Byzantine cover-ups far...2016 January 26, David Robert Grimes, “On the Viability of Conspiratorial Beliefs”, in PLOS One, volume 11, number 1, page 9

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