---
title: byzantine — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «byzantine» in the school dictionary: Byzantine describes the Byzantine Empire, the eastern part of the Roman Empire, which lasted for about a thousand years after Rome fell, with its capital at Constantinople (now Istanbul). Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/byzantine/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/) / [school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/) / [B](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/) / byzantine

# byzantine

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** Byzantine, Roman Empire, Rome, Byzantine art, holy pictures, capital · **What happens:** describe, last, fall, have, call, mean · **To what, where:** Byzantine Empire, gold mosaics, icons, byzantine rules, Constantinople, famous Byzantine church · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
«byzantine» in the school dictionary: its 3 meanings for a pupil and its 6 examples, every sentence parsed by Mova itself — its syntax tree, a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies, and its pragmatics clause by clause. The word in the dictionary, with its sense in the lessons: [byzantine in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/byzantine.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .note -->
Usage: history — kept apart, not parsed.

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Byzantine describes the Byzantine Empire, the eastern part of the Roman Empire, which lasted for about a thousand years after Rome fell, with its capital at Constantinople (now Istanbul).

<!-- fold The tree, 29 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:byzantine:m1:1
# text = Byzantine describes the Byzantine Empire, the eastern part of the Roman Empire, which lasted for about a thousand years after Rome fell, with its capital at Constantinople (now Istanbul).
1	Byzantine	byzantine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nsubj	_	_
2	describes	describe	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	Byzantine	Byzantine	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	_
5	Empire	Empire	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
8	eastern	eastern	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	part	part	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	appos	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
12	Roman	Roman	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	Empire	Empire	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
15	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	16	nsubj	_	_
16	lasted	last	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	acl:relcl	_	_
17	for	for	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
18	about	about	ADV	RB	_	20	advmod	_	_
19	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	thousand	thousand	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	21	nummod	_	_
21	years	year	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	obl	_	_
22	after	after	SCONJ	IN	_	24	mark	_	_
23	Rome	Rome	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	24	nsubj	_	_
24	fell	fall	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	16	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	28	punct	_	_
26	with	with	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
27	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	28	nmod:poss	_	_
28	capital	capital	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	24	obl	_	_
29	at	at	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
30	Constantinople	Constantinople	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	28	nmod	_	_
31	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	33	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	33	advmod	_	_
33	Istanbul	Istanbul	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	30	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
34	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	33	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **describe** | present | Byzantine | the Byzantine Empire |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1-1 «NP V NP S\_ING»: agent=Agent empire=Theme |
| 2 | **last** | past | the Roman Empire |  |  |  | year |  | vn cost-54.2 «NP V NP.value»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **fall** | past | Rome |  |  |  |  | with Empire's capital at Constantinople | vn occur-48.3 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## Meaning 2 {#m2}

<!-- .note -->
Usage: history, art, church — kept apart, not parsed.

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Byzantine art and churches have gold mosaics, domes and holy pictures called icons.

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:byzantine:m2:1
# text = Byzantine art and churches have gold mosaics, domes and holy pictures called icons.
1	Byzantine	byzantine	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	art	art	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
3	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
4	churches	church	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	conj	_	_
5	have	have	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	gold	gold	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	compound	_	_
7	mosaics	mosaic	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
9	domes	dome	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	conj	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
11	holy	holy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	12	amod	_	_
12	pictures	picture	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	conj	_	_
13	called	call	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	acl	_	_
14	icons	icon	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **have** | present | Byzantine art and churches | gold mosaics and domes and holy pictures |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mosaic=Patient |
| 2 | **call** | participle | holy pictures *not said here* | icons |  |  |  |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## Meaning 3 {#m3}

<!-- .note -->
Usage: formal — kept apart, not parsed.

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
byzantine (small b) means far too complicated and hard to understand: byzantine rules.

<!-- fold The tree, 13 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:byzantine:m3:1
# text = byzantine (small b) means far too complicated and hard to understand: byzantine rules.
1	byzantine	byzantine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
2	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	b	B	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	4	punct	_	_
6	means	mean	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
7	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	9	advmod	_	_
8	too	too	ADV	RB	_	9	advmod	_	_
9	complicated	complicated	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	ccomp	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	conj	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	13	mark	_	_
13	understand	understand	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	16	punct	_	_
15	byzantine	byzantine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	compound	_	_
16	rules	rule	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present | byzantine |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **understand** | to-infinitive | byzantine *not said here* | byzantine rules |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Byzantine Empire's capital was Constantinople.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:byzantine:x1:1
# text = The Byzantine Empire's capital was Constantinople.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	Byzantine	Byzantine	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	Empire	Empire	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	's	's	PART	POS	_	3	case	_	_
5	capital	capital	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
6	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
7	Constantinople	Constantinople	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | the Byzantine Empire's capital | Constantinople |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Hagia Sophia is a famous Byzantine church with a huge dome.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:byzantine:x2:1
# text = Hagia Sophia is a famous Byzantine church with a huge dome.
1	Hagia	Hagia	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	2	compound	_	_
2	Sophia	Sophia	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
5	famous	famous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
6	Byzantine	byzantine	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	_
7	church	church	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
8	with	with	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	huge	huge	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	dome	dome	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | Hagia Sophia | a famous Byzantine church |  |  |  | with a huge dome | tree rules |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Byzantine mosaics shine with tiny pieces of gold glass.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:byzantine:x3:1
# text = Byzantine mosaics shine with tiny pieces of gold glass.
1	Byzantine	byzantine	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	mosaics	mosaic	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	shine	shine	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	tiny	tiny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	pieces	piece	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	gold	gold	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	compound	_	_
9	glass	glass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **shine** | present | Byzantine mosaics |  |  |  |  | with tiny pieces of gold glass | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP.location V PP.theme»: agent=Location with piece=Theme |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Orthodox Christians still pray with icons in the Byzantine style.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:byzantine:x4:1
# text = Orthodox Christians still pray with icons in the Byzantine style.
1	Orthodox	orthodox	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	Christians	Christian	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	still	still	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	pray	pray	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	with	with	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	icons	icon	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
7	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	Byzantine	byzantine	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	style	style	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pray** | present | Orthodox Christians |  |  | the Byzantine style | still | with icons | vn long-32.2 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Pivot |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
(formal) The club's rules were so byzantine that nobody understood them.

<!-- fold The tree, 12 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:byzantine:x5:1
# text = (formal) The club's rules were so byzantine that nobody understood them.
1	(	(	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	2	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	formal	formal	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	)	)	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	2	punct	_	_
4	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	club	club	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	's	PART	POS	_	5	case	_	_
7	rules	rule	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	nsubj	_	_
8	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
9	so	so	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	byzantine	byzantine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
11	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	13	obj	_	_
12	nobody	nobody	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	13	nsubj	_	_
13	understood	understand	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	acl:relcl	_	_
14	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | past | the club's formal rules | byzantine |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **understand** | past | nobody | byzantine |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **rule** |  | the club |  |  |  |  |  | nom rule «cognition intransitive»: poss=agent |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The Byzantines spoke Greek but called themselves Romans.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:byzantine:x6:1
# text = The Byzantines spoke Greek but called themselves Romans.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	Byzantines	Byzantine	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	spoke	speak	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	Greek	Greek	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	xcomp	_	_
5	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	called	call	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	conj	_	_
7	themselves	themselves	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs|Reflex=Yes	6	obj	_	_
8	Romans	Roman	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	6	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **speak** *speech: other* | past | the Byzantines |  |  |  |  | greek *property* | vn talk-37.5 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **call** | past | the Byzantines *not said here* | Byzantines *= byzantine* |  |  |  |  | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent themselves=Recipient |

<!-- div src -->

**Text:** the school dictionary of Mova's schools (`world/data/dictionary-schools/`), written for Mova. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each meaning and example read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [byte](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/byte/)
- next →: [ca](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/ca/)
- ↑ back to [B in school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/)