labyrinth

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: Lab=y=rinth

CIDE DICTIONARY

labyrinth, n. [L. labyrinthus, Gr. laby`rinthos: cf. F. labyrinthe.].

•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  " The Labyrinth of Classical Mythology was a vast maze constructed by Daedalus on the island of Crete, in order to confine the Minotaur; the task was done at the command of King Minos. One theory suggests that the myth had some basis in the structure of the palace of King Minos at Knossos, in Crete, it being a multistoried royal palace with labyrinthine passages between rooms."  [PJC]
•  Any intricate or involved inclosure; especially, an ornamental maze or inclosure in a park or garden, having high hedges separating confusingly convoluted passages.  [1913 Webster]
•  Any object or arrangement of an intricate or involved form, or having a very complicated nature.  [1913 Webster]

  "The serpent . . . fast sleeping soon he found,
  In labyrinth of many a round self-rolled."  [1913 Webster]

  "The labyrinth of the mind."  [1913 Webster]
•  An inextricable or bewildering difficulty.  [1913 Webster]

  "I' the maze and winding labyrinths o' the world."  [1913 Webster]
•  The internal ear. See Note under Ear.  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]
•  A pattern or design representing a maze, -- often inlaid in the tiled floor of a church, etc.  [1913 Webster]

Syn. -- Maze; confusion; intricacy; windings.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

labyrinth, n.
1 a complicated irregular network of passages or paths etc.; a maze.
2 an intricate or tangled arrangement.
3 Anat. the complex arrangement of bony and membranous canals and chambers of the inner ear which constitute the organs of hearing and balance.

Idiom

labyrinth fish = GOURAMI.

Derivative

labyrinthian adj. labyrinthine adj.

Etymology

F labyrinthe or L labyrinthus f. Gk laburinthos

THESAURUS

labyrinth

Chinese puzzle, Gordian knot, Rube Goldberg contraption, can of worms, complex, jungle, knot, maze, meander, mesh, mess, morass, perplex, ravel, skein, snafu, snake pit, snarl, tangle, tangled skein, web, webwork, wheels within wheels, wilderness

ROGET THESAURUS

labyrinth

Complexity

N complexity, complexness, complexus, complication, implication, intricacy, intrication, perplexity, network, labyrinth, wilderness, jungle, involution, raveling, entanglement, coil, sleave, tangled skein, knot, Gordian knot, wheels within wheels, kink, gnarl, knarl, webwork, difficulty, gnarled, knarled, complex, complexed, intricate, complicated, perplexed, involved, raveled, entangled, knotted, tangled, inextricable, irreducible.

Convolution

N convolution, winding, convolution, involution, circumvolution, wave, undulation, tortuosity, anfractuosity, sinuosity, sinuation, meandering, circuit, circumbendibus, twist, twirl, windings and turnings, ambages, torsion, inosculation, reticulation, rivulation, roughness, coil, roll, curl, buckle, spiral, helix, corkscrew, worm, volute, rundle, tendril, scollop, scallop, escalop, kink, ammonite, snakestone, serpent, eel, maze, labyrinth, knot, convoluted, winding, twisted, tortile, tortive, wavy, undated, undulatory, circling, snaky, snake-like, serpentine, serpent, anguill, vermiform, vermicular, mazy, tortuous, sinuous, flexuous, anfractuous, reclivate, rivulose, scolecoid, sigmoid, sigmoidal, spiriferous, spiroid, involved, intricate, complicated, perplexed, labyrinth, labyrinthic, labyrinthian, labyrinthine, peristaltic, daedalian, kinky, knotted, wreathy, frizzly, crepe, buckled, raveled, spiral, coiled, helical, cochleate, cochleous, screw-shaped, turbinated, turbiniform, in and out, round and round, a can of worms, Gordian knot, convolution, winding, convolution, involution, circumvolution, wave, undulation, tortuosity, anfractuosity, sinuosity, sinuation, meandering, circuit, circumbendibus, twist, twirl, windings and turnings, ambages, torsion, inosculation, reticulation, rivulation, roughness, coil, roll, curl, buckle, spiral, helix, corkscrew, worm, volute, rundle, tendril, scollop, scallop, escalop, kink, ammonite, snakestone, serpent, eel, maze, labyrinth, knot, convoluted, winding, twisted, tortile, tortive, wavy, undated, undulatory, circling, snaky, snake-like, serpentine, serpent, anguill, vermiform, vermicular, mazy, tortuous, sinuous, flexuous, anfractuous, reclivate, rivulose, scolecoid, sigmoid, sigmoidal, spiriferous, spiroid, involved, intricate, complicated, perplexed, labyrinth, labyrinthic, labyrinthian, labyrinthine, peristaltic, daedalian, kinky, knotted, wreathy, frizzly, crepe, buckled, raveled, spiral, coiled, helical, cochleate, cochleous, screw-shaped, turbinated, turbiniform, in and out, round and round, a can of worms, Gordian knot.

Secret

N secret, dead secret, profound secret, arcanum, mystery, latency, Asian mystery, sealed book, secrets of the prison house, le desous des cartes, enigma, riddle, puzzle, nut to crack, conundrum, charade, rebus, logogriph, monogram, anagram, Sphinx, crux criticorum, maze, labyrinth, Hyrcynian wood, intricacy, meander, problem, paradox, unintelligibility, terra incognita, secret, involved, labyrinthine, labyrinthian, mazy, confidential, top secret.