Well attestedNamed through a historical place-name

Byzantine

adjective · first attested 17th century

The word for bureaucratic tangle is an old name for Istanbul.

Excessively complicated, with hidden workings.

Another word

Istanbul·Turkey

41.0100°N 28.9603°E · Q406

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Record

Relationship: Named through a historical place-name
Confidence: Well attestedThe place link is the standard scholarly account.
Attested: 17th century
Part of speech: adjective
Sources: Wiktionary: Byzantine Wikidata: Q406

Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.

How it traveled

Step 1
Istanbul
In English
Byzantine

The entry

Byzantium was the Greek city that became Constantinople and then Istanbul. Its later empire's reputation for intricate administration gave English the adjective.

Also pinned to Istanbul

3 more from the same place

turquoiseThe gem is named for the country it was traded through, not where it formed.İstanbul bezantThe coin carries the same old name as the adjective.Istanbul IstanbuliteThe demonym is younger than the city by roughly sixteen centuries, because the official name only changed in 1930.Istanbul

Turkey

18 more words from Turkey

All 22 entries

solecismA grammar error is named for a city whose Greek sounded wrong to Athens.Soloi meanderA winding path is named for a river in Anatolia.Büyük Menderes angoraThe wool carries the old name of Ankara.Ankara casabaThe melon is named for a town in western Turkey.Turgutlu ciliceThe hair shirt is named for a region of southern Anatolia.Cilicia colophonyViolinists' rosin is named for an Ionian city.Colophon jetThe black stone is usually traced to a river in Lycia.Gagas PontusA sea's name became a region's.Pontus

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