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Webster 1913 Edition


Labyrinth

Lab′y-rinth

,
Noun.
[L.
labyrinthus
, Gr.
λαβύριντηος
: cf. F.
labyrinthe
.]
1.
An edifice or place full of intricate passageways which render it difficult to find the way from the interior to the entrance;
as, the Egyptian and Cretan
labyrinths
.
2.
Hence:
Any intricate or involved inclosure; especially, an ornamental maze or inclosure in a park or garden, having high hedges separating confusingly convoluted passages.
3.
Any object or arrangement of an intricate or involved form, or having a very complicated nature.
The serpent . . . fast sleeping soon he found,
In
labyrinth
of many a round self-rolled.
Milton.
The
labyrinth
of the mind.
Tennyson.
4.
An inextricable or bewildering difficulty.
I’ the maze and winding
labyrinths o' the world
.
Denham.
5.
(Anat.)
The internal ear. See Note under
Ear
.
6.
(Metal.)
A series of canals through which a stream of water is directed for suspending, carrying off, and depositing at different distances, the ground ore of a metal.
Ure.
7.
(Arch.)
A pattern or design representing a maze, – often inlaid in the tiled floor of a church, etc.
Syn. – Maze; confusion; intricacy; windings.
Labyrinth
,
Maze
. Labyrinth, originally; the name of an edifice or excavation, carries the idea of design, and construction in a permanent form, while maze is used of anything confused or confusing, whether fixed or shifting. Maze is less restricted in its figurative uses than labyrinth. We speak of the labyrinth of the ear, or of the mind, and of a labyrinth of difficulties; but of the mazes of the dance, the mazes of political intrigue, or of the mind being in a maze.

Webster 1828 Edition


Labyrinth

LAB'YRINTH

,
Noun.
[L. labyrinthus; Gr.]
1.
Among the ancients, an edifice or place full of intricacies, or formed with winding passages, which rendered it difficult to find the way from the interior to the entrance. The most remarkable of these edifices mentioned, are the Egyptian and the Cretan labyrinths.
2.
A maze; an inexplicable difficulty.
3.
Formerly, an ornamental maze or wilderness in gardens.
4.
A cavity in the ear.

Definition 2024


Labyrinth

Labyrinth

See also: labyrinth

German

Noun

Labyrinth n (genitive Labyrinthes or Labyrinths, plural Labyrinthe)

  1. labyrinth
  2. maze (technically not quite correct, compare w:Labyrinth and w:Maze)

Declension

See also

labyrinth

labyrinth

See also: Labyrinth

English

Noun

labyrinth (plural labyrinths)

  1. A maze, especially underground or covered.
  2. Part of the inner ear.
  3. (figuratively) Anything complicated and confusing, like a maze.
    • 2014 August 23, Neil Hegarty, “Hidden City: Adventures and Explorations in Dublin by Karl Whitney, review: 'a necessary corrective' [print version: Re-Joycing in Dublin, p. R25]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review):
      Whitney is absorbed especially by Dublin's unglamorous interstitial zones: the new housing estates and labyrinths of roads, watercourses and railways where the city peters into its commuter belt.

Derived terms

  • cochlear labyrinth
  • cortical labyrinth
  • ethmoidal labyrinth
  • labyrinthal
  • labyrinthed
  • osseous labyrinth
  • prayer labyrinth
  • unicursal labyrinth
  • vestibular labyrinth

Translations

Verb

labyrinth (third-person singular simple present labyrinths, present participle labyrinthing, simple past and past participle labyrinthed)

  1. To enclose in a labyrinth, or as though in a labyrinth.
  2. To arrange in the form of a labyrinth.

References