labyrinthine

English

WOTD – 23 November 2011

The labyrinthine underside of the fungus Daedalea quercina.

Etymology

From labyrinth +‎ -ine.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌlab.əˈɹɪn.θʌɪn/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˌlæb.əˈɹɪn.θɪn/, /ˌlæb.əˈɹɪnˌθaɪn/, /ˌlæb.əˈɹɪnˌθin/
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Rhymes: -ɪnθaɪn, -ɪnθɪn, -ɪnθiːn

Adjective

labyrinthine (comparative more labyrinthine, superlative most labyrinthine)

Physically resembling a labyrinth; with the qualities of a maze.
- 1961 November, H. G. Ellison; P. G. Barlow, “Journey through France: Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, volume 14, number 158, page 670:
  As our train to Paris dashed through the labyrynthine flyovers at Porchefontaine, barely a mile from Versailles, the 75 m.p.h. limit was already almost attained.
- 1996, Venkataraman Srinivasan; André Dubois, “Non-Human Primates”, in Steen Lindkær Jensen; {Hans Gregerson; Mohammad Hosein Shokouh-Amin; Frank G. Moody, editors, Essentials of Experimental Surgery: Gastroenterology‎, page 27/4:
  In the pyloric canal, muscular ridges are more fixed than elsewhere and produce quite a labyrinthine surface.
- 2011, Lincoln Child, Deep Storm, 29, page 185:
  Crane trotted along the labyrinthine corridors of deck 3, accompanied by a young marine with close-cropped blond hair.
(anatomy) Relating to the labyrinth of the inner ear.
Synonyms: labyrinthal, labyrinthial, labyrinthian, labyrinthic, labyrinthical, labyrinthiform
(figuratively) Convoluted, baffling, confusing, perplexing.
Synonyms: baffling, confusing, convoluted
- 1996 September 13, Roger Ebert, “American Buffalo movie review (1996)”, in Roger Ebert‎:
  Mamet, like one of his characters, invents a labyrinthine, convoluted spiel leading nowhere, and like a magician distracts us with his words while elaborately not producing a rabbit from his hat.
- 2000, Joseph Ellis, Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation, page 51:
  Any attempt to answer that question would carry us into the labyrinthine corridors of Jefferson's famously elusive mind.
- 2005, Michael W. Riley, Plato's Cratylus: Argument, Form, and Structure, page 103:
  By coupling "essence" with "name" within a series of contraposed pairs of names, Socrates indicates the point to which he thinks his labyrinthine argument has led so far in the Cratylus.

Derived terms

intralabyrinthine
labyrinthine artery
labyrinthinely
nonlabyrinthine
perilabyrinthine
retrolabyrinthine
translabyrinthine

Related terms

labyrinth
labyrinthal
labyrinthed
labyrinthial
labyrinthian
labyrinthic
labyrinthical
labyrinthically
labyrinthiform

Translations

physically resembling a labyrinth

Catalan: laberíntic (ca)
Dutch: als (nl) een (nl) doolhof (nl) m
Finnish: sokkeloinen, labyrinttikuvioinen
French: labyrinthique (fr) m or f
German: labyrinthartig (de)
Greek: λαβυρινθώδης (el) (lavyrinthódis), δαιδαλώδης (el) (daidalódis)
Italian: labirintico
Polish: labiryntowy (pl)
Portuguese: labiríntico
Russian: лабиринтообразный (ru) (labirintoobraznyj)
Spanish: laberíntico (es)
Swedish: labyrintisk (sv)
Volapük: labürenik

relating to the inner ear

Chinese:
Mandarin: 迷路的 (zh) (mílù de)

twisting, convoluted, baffling

Catalan: laberíntic (ca)
Dutch: ingewikkeld (nl), verwarrend (nl)
Finnish: monimutkainen (fi), rönsyilevä (fi), labyrinttimäinen, sekava (fi)
Hindi: पेचीदा (hi) (pecīdā)
Portuguese: labiríntico
Russian: запутанный (ru) (zaputannyj), сло́жный (ru) (slóžnyj), (informal) мудрёный (ru) (mudrjónyj), тру́дный для понимания (trúdnyj dlja ponimanija)
Spanish: laberíntico (es)
Swedish: labyrintisk (sv), förvillande (sv)

References

“labyrinthine”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
“labyrinthine”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary