labyrinth

[ lab-uh-rinth ]

/ ˈlæb ə rɪnθ /

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See synonyms for labyrinth on Thesaurus.com

noun

an intricate combination of paths or passages in which it is difficult to find one's way or to reach the exit.

a maze of paths bordered by high hedges, as in a park or garden, for the amusement of those who search for a way out.

a complicated or tortuous arrangement, as of streets or buildings.

any confusingly intricate state of things or events; a bewildering complex: His papers were lost in an hellish bureaucratic labyrinth.After the death of her daughter, she wandered in a labyrinth of sorrow for what seemed like a decade.

(initial capital letter)Classical Mythology. a vast maze built in Crete by Daedalus, at the command of King Minos, to house the Minotaur.

Anatomy.

the internal ear, consisting of a bony portion (bony labyrinth ) and a membranous portion (membranous labyrinth ).
the aggregate of air chambers in the ethmoid bone, between the eye and the upper part of the nose.

a mazelike pattern inlaid in the pavement of a church.

Also called acoustic labyrinth, acoustical labyrinth .Audio. a loudspeaker enclosure with air chambers at the rear for absorbing sound waves radiating in one direction so as to prevent their interference with waves radiated in another direction.

OTHER WORDS FOR labyrinth

1 maze, network, web.

3 warren, maze, jungle, snarl, tangle, knot.

4 wilderness, jungle, forest; morass.

See synonyms for labyrinth on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of labyrinth

First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin labyrinthus, from Greek labýrinthos; replacing earlier laborynt, from Medieval Latin laborintus, Latin, as above

Words nearby labyrinth

labrum, labrusca, La Bruyère, Labuan, laburnum, labyrinth, labyrinth fish, labyrinthine, labyrinthitis, labyrinthodont, lac

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use labyrinth in a sentence

Otherwise, you just pull on your warmest socks and snow boots, toss your snowshoes in the back of your car, and choose your own wintertime labyrinth to explore.
He escaped the cacophony by strapping on snowshoes and slipping into the Great North Woods|Miles Howard|January 15, 2021|Washington Post
It seems that resolving advertising’s identity crisis is like negotiating a maze and advertisers have no idea what waits for them at the end of the labyrinth.
‘A challenging point for ID resolution’: Advertisers scramble to plan for the uncertain ‘cookieless future’|Seb Joseph|January 11, 2021|Digiday
Thousands of crocodiles patrol an adjoining labyrinth of manmade cooling canals.
America’s green energy hopes hinge on propping up aging nuclear plants|Nicolás Rivero|December 19, 2020|Quartz
Nearly 300 of the bald, bucktoothed, nearly blind rodents can scoot along a colony’s labyrinth of tunnels.
Naked mole-rats invade neighboring colonies and steal babies|Jake Buehler|October 20, 2020|Science News

It is a contentious, mathematical labyrinth of public policy.
Politics Report: A Gigantic Politics Event Is Coming|Scott Lewis|September 26, 2020|Voice of San Diego
As Fox explains in Making Time, a labyrinth of aging pipelines and forgotten wells crisscrosses the city.
The Fiery Underground Oil Pit Eating L.A.|Geoff Manaugh|December 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It was a ponderous labyrinth of bolts, locks, and steel doors, making it an almost impregnable fortress.
The High Society Bank Robber of the 1800s|J. North Conway|October 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
As Margalit Fox says at the outset of The Riddle of the Labyrinth, the story of Linear B is well known.
Who Actually Cracked Linear B, the Ancient Code of the Mysterious Knossos Labyrinth?|Malcolm Jones|May 17, 2013|DAILY BEAST
This is wishful thinking: a plunge into the labyrinth with no thread to lead them back out.
After the Queen’s Jubilee, a Sobering Summer|Christopher Dickey|June 8, 2012|DAILY BEAST
As it has come down to us “on the borders of pottery and textiles, the meander resembles a maze or labyrinth.”
This Week’s Hot Reads: April 9, 2012|Nicholas Mancusi, Malcolm Jones|April 9, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Here opens up, very evidently, a perfect labyrinth of complexity.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice|Stephen Leacock
But it was the labyrinth for which the earlier economist held, so he thought, the thread.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice|Stephen Leacock
What thread shall guide us in this labyrinth of conjectures and contradictions from the very first verse to the very last?
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 1 (of 10)|Franois-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)
You will not wonder that I lose time and catch at every hope, rather than involve myself in that labyrinth of Chicane and expense.
Private Letters of Edward Gibbon (1753-1794) Volume 1 (of 2)|Edward Gibbon
It was approached through a labyrinth of streets that grew denser and darker as one neared the precincts of the club.
A Cursory History of Swearing|Julian Sharman

British Dictionary definitions for labyrinth (1 of 2)

labyrinth

/ (ˈlæbərɪnθ) /

noun

a mazelike network of tunnels, chambers, or paths, either natural or man-madeCompare maze (def. 1)

any complex or confusing system of streets, passages, etc

a complex or intricate situation

any system of interconnecting cavities, esp those comprising the internal ear
another name for internal ear

electronics an enclosure behind a high-performance loudspeaker, consisting of a series of air chambers designed to absorb unwanted sound waves

Word Origin for labyrinth

C16: via Latin from Greek laburinthos, of obscure origin

British Dictionary definitions for labyrinth (2 of 2)

Labyrinth

/ (ˈlæbərɪnθ) /

noun

Greek myth a huge maze constructed for King Minos in Crete by Daedalus to contain the Minotaur

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for labyrinth

labyrinth

[ lăb′ə-rĭnth′ ]

The system of interconnecting canals and spaces that make up the inner ear of many vertebrates. The labyrinth has both a bony component, made up of the cochlea, the semicircular canals, and the vestibule, and a membranous one.

Cultural definitions for labyrinth

Labyrinth

In classical mythology, a vast maze on the island of Crete. The great inventor Daedalus designed it, and the king of Crete kept the Minotaur in it. Very few people ever escaped from the Labyrinth. One was Theseus, the killer of the Minotaur.

notes for Labyrinth

A labyrinth can be literally a maze or figuratively any highly intricate construction or problem.

labyrinth

OTHER WORDS FOR labyrinth

Origin of labyrinth

Words nearby labyrinth

Words related to labyrinth

How to use labyrinth in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for labyrinth (1 of 2)

Word Origin for labyrinth

British Dictionary definitions for labyrinth (2 of 2)

Scientific definitions for labyrinth

Cultural definitions for labyrinth

notes for Labyrinth