Labyrinth Meaning
/ˈlæb.ə.ɹɪnθ/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA maze-like structure built by Daedalus in Knossos, containing the Minotaur.
nounA maze-like structure built by Daedalus in Knossos, containing the Minotaur., A complicated irregular network of passages or paths, especially underground or covered, in which it is difficult to find one's way.
Sentence Examples
I'd defeated the four sub-bosses and got through the damn long underground labyrinth.
Walking meditatively through the labyrinth was soothing.
The centipede navigated through the labyrinth of roots.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ancient ____ had many confusing paths and dead ends inside it.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ancient palace was a true ____ of narrow hallways and hidden rooms that were difficult to navigate.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English laberynt, laberynthe, from Latin labyrinthus, from Ancient Greek λᾰβύρῐνθος (lăbúrĭnthos, “a maze”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Mrs. Churchill liked the interminable labyrinths of the Cyrus and the Cassandra, because she had liked them in the days of her girlhood. Youth identifies itself with the romance; it is the heroic knight, or the lovely lady, of which it reads; it lives amid those fine creations; its sweetest hours are given to dreams which soon "Fade into the light of common day.""
— 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 264–265:
"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."
— 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):
"It is said to have been labyrinthed by secret exits and cunning contrivances to facilitate the escape of fugitives from the law."
— 1898, Missionary Review of the World - Volume 21, page 178:
"By labyrinthing, close axial running clearances can be increased without reducing efficiency."
— 1963, Water & Sewage Works - Volume 110, page 43:
"In the ports the transmission path is often labyrinthed through shielding but the peculiar requirement of straight beams has been considered."
— 1998, Peter E. Stott, Giuseppe Gorini, Paolo Prandoni, Diagnostics for Experimental Thermonuclear Fusion Reactors:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ancient ____ had many confusing paths and dead ends inside it.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ancient palace was a true ____ of narrow hallways and hidden rooms that were difficult to navigate.