byzantine

«byzantine» in Mova's school dictionary: Byzantine describes the Byzantine Empire, the eastern… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adjective (Byzantine, byzantine); noun (a Byzantine, Byzantines — history)

meaning for a pupil

1) (history) Byzantine describes the Byzantine Empire, the eastern part of the Roman Empire, which lasted for about a thousand years after Rome fell, with its capital at Constantinople (now Istanbul). tree →

2) (history, art, church) Byzantine art and churches have gold mosaics, domes and holy pictures called icons. tree →

3) (formal) byzantine (small b) means far too complicated and hard to understand: byzantine rules. tree →

sense in the lessons

In history lessons, the Byzantine Empire links ancient Rome to the Middle Ages: Emperor Justinian, the great church of Hagia Sophia, Greek language and Orthodox Christianity. In church and art lessons, Byzantine icons and mosaics are shown. In the formal or exam voice, «byzantine» describes a confusing system, like a maze of rules. Phrases: «the Byzantine Empire», «Byzantine art», «a byzantine system».

examples

• The Byzantine Empire's capital was Constantinople. tree →
• Hagia Sophia is a famous Byzantine church with a huge dome. tree →
• Byzantine mosaics shine with tiny pieces of gold glass. tree →
• Orthodox Christians still pray with icons in the Byzantine style. tree →
• (formal) The club's rules were so byzantine that nobody understood them. tree →
• The Byzantines spoke Greek but called themselves Romans. tree →

note

Capital B for the empire and its art; small b is common for the "too complicated" sense. Say it "bi-ZAN-teen" or "BIZ-an-tine". People of the time did not call it "Byzantine"; they called themselves Romans — the name was given later by historians.

In the corpora

• Istanbul was Constantinople, the Byzantine capital, which the Ottomans conquered in 1453.
• The Ottoman sultan Mehmed II captured Constantinople in 1453, ending the Byzantine Empire.
• The East, which we call the Byzantine Empire, lasted another thousand years.
• The eastern empire, which we call the Byzantine Empire, lasted another thousand years until 1453.
• The Byzantines kept Roman law and Greek books alive and spread Orthodox Christianity to places like Kyiv and Moscow.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «byzantine» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.