Difference between revisions of "Labyrinth"

<p> (1): (n.) An inextricable or bewildering difficulty. </p> <p> (2): (n.) The internal ear. See Note under Ear. </p> <p> (3): (n.) Any intricate or involved inclosure; especially, an ornamental maze or inclosure in a park or garden. </p> <p> (4): (n.) 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. </p> <p> (5): (n.) Any object or arrangement of an intricate or involved form, or having a very complicated nature. </p> <p> (6): (n.) A pattern or design representing a maze, - often inlaid in the tiled floor of a church, etc. </p> <p> (7): (n.) 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. </p>

<p> A name given to sundry structures composed of winding passages so intricate as to render it difficult to find the way out, and sometimes in. Of these structures the most remarkable were those of [[Egypt]] and of Crete. The [[Egyptian]] to the E. of Lake Moeris, consisted of an endless number of dark chambers, connected by a maze of passages into which it was difficult to find entrance; and the Cretan, built by Dædalus, at the instance of Minos, to imprison the Minotaur, out of which one who entered could not find his way out again unless by means of a skein of thread. It was by means of this, provided him by Ariadne , [[Perseus]] ( <i> q. v </i> .) found his way out after slaying the [[Minotaur]] ( <i> q. v </i> .). </p>