Word.ws English Dictionary

Gordian knots

Gordian knots is the plural of Gordian knot.

Meaning of Gordian knot

Noun

Gordian knot (plural Gordian knots)

  1. (Greek) The legendary knot tied to a pole near the temple of Zeus in Gordium.
  2. (broadly) Any intricate and complex problem having a simple solution.
    • List his discourse of war, and you shall hear
      A fearful battle rend'red you in music;
      Turn him to any cause of policy,
      The Gordian knot of it he will unloose.1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...

Questions about Gordian knots

What is Gordian knots the plural of?
Gordian knots is the plural of Gordian knot.

Words near Gordian knots in the dictionary

  1. Gorders
  2. Gordhan
  3. gordiaceous
  4. gordian
  5. Gordian knot
  6. Gordian knots
  7. Gordian worm
  8. Gordian worms
  9. Gordias
  10. Gordie
  11. Gordie Howe hat trick

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Gordian knots (page history and authors); Gordian knot (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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