lab·y·rinth  (l ăb ə-r ĭnth ′)
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n.1. a. An intricate structure of interconnecting passages through which it is difficult to find one's way; a maze. b. Labyrinth Greek Mythology The maze in which the Minotaur was confined. 2. A design consisting of a single unbranching but highly convoluted path leading from the outside to the center of a usually circular or square space. 3. Something highly intricate or convoluted in character, composition, or construction: a labyrinth of rules and regulations. 4. Anatomy a. A group of complex interconnecting anatomical cavities.
[Middle English laberinthe, from Latin labyrinthus, from Greek laburinthos; possibly akin to labrus, double-headed axe (used as a ritual weapon and a sign of authority in Minoan civilization, so that Greek laburinthos may originally have designated a Minoan palace as "the house of the double-headed axe"), of Lydian origin.] |
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