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Byzantine, a Word for History Buffs
Today, the city that lies on the Bosporus Strait in Turkey is named Istanbul, but it was once known as Constantinople (a name given to it when it became the capital of the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, Empire), and in ancient times, it was called Byzantium. Its history is exotic—filled with mystics, wars, and political infighting—and over time the word Byzantine (from Late Latin Byzantinus, the name for a native of Byzantium) became synonymous with anything characteristic of the city or empire, from architecture to intrigue. The figurative sense referring to a devious manner of operation first appeared in the late 1930s. It was popularized by frequent use in reference to the Soviet Union, whose secrecy and despotism were equated by Westerners with what went on in the old Byzantine Empire.
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Examples of Byzantine in a Sentence
Sucheta Rawal, Travel + Leisure, 27 June 2024
The hotel is housed in a 6th-century Byzantine tower and a medieval church with original architectural details.
—Laura Itzkowitz, Travel + Leisure, 18 June 2024
While further research is needed to determine exactly where this bone plate was carved, its representation of Constantinople-level artistry shows the region’s ancient connection to the Byzantine culture, researchers said.
—Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 18 June 2024
Completed in 2013, some 20 years after construction first began, the cathedral is a striking example of contemporary religious architecture, blending traditional Roman, Italian, and Byzantine elements with modern design.
—Jake Parks, Discover Magazine, 10 June 2024
Archaeologists recently unearthed a Byzantine church there—and, at the same excavation site, a ruin that might have been the very synagogue in which Paul preached two millenniums ago.
—Joshua Hammer, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 May 2024
Throughout the empire’s reign, as a wealth of Byzantine silver made its way to Europe, it was hoarded by high-status power brokers, per the Guardian’s Esther Addley.
—Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 Apr. 2024
Clocks there still run on Byzantine time, with the day starting at sunset rather than midnight.
—Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 10 Apr. 2024
Exactly how and when the Byzantine and French silver were transformed into English coins is unclear.
—Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 8 Apr. 2024
Abid Rahman, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 July 2024
But the recipe for the long-lasting pigment, made using Mediterranean sea snails, disappeared with the fall of the Byzantine Empire.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN, 29 June 2024
Prosecutors alleged Sutherland wrote two promissory notes for $5 million each owed to the 2009 irrevocable trust, one to Sutherland himself; the other to Byzantine Holdings LLC, in which Sutherland was a partner.
—Christina Hall, Detroit Free Press, 7 June 2024
Naismith points out that high-ranking people in England and Francia at this time possessed a great deal of silver artifacts, as evidenced by the significant cache of Byzantine discovered at Sutton Hoo.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 11 Apr. 2024
The Western Roman Empire would go on to become something of a decaying backwater, while the eastern half of the empire — known by historians as the Byzantine Empire — flourished for another thousand years and more.
—Jerry Saltz, Vulture, 8 Mar. 2024
The remains of two other churches lay near this basilica, evidence that Sia had grown into an important center of the faith during the last days of Rome and the dawn of the Byzantine Empire.
—Joshua Hammer, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 May 2024
After the fall of the Byzantine Empire, half of Eastern Europe, including the Balkans and Mediterranean, fell under Ottoman rule and was cut off from regular communication with the West.
—Lauren Costantino, Miami Herald, 15 Apr. 2024
At its peak, the Byzantine Empire stretched from Syria to southern Spain.
—Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'Byzantine.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Byzantine.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Byzantine. Accessed 7 Jul. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
Byzantine
1 of 2 noun
bə-ˈzan-
Byzantine
2 of 2 adjective
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