Gordian

See also: gordian

English

Etymology

From Gordius + -an or Gordium + -an.

Adjective

Gordian (comparative more Gordian, superlative most Gordian)

  1. Of or pertaining to Gordium (now Yassihüyük in Turkey), capital of Phrygia.
  2. Of or pertaining to Gordius, king of Phrygia
  3. Of the Gordian knot.
  4. Twisted; convoluted; tied as a knot.

Quotations

1667 1819 2005
ME « 15th c. 16th c. 17th c. 18th c. 19th c. 20th c. 21st c.
  • 1667John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book IV
    close the serpent sly, / Insinuating, wove with Gordian twine / His braided train
  • 1819John Keats, Lamia
    Until he found a palpitating snake,
    Bright, and cirque-couchant in a dusky brake.
    She was a gordian shape of dazzling hue,
    Vermilion-spotted, golden, green, and blue.
  • 2005Lance Parkin, The Gallifrey Chronicles, p 205
    When you put it that way it was so simple, so self-explanatory, so beautiful, so obvious that what had seemed the most Gordian problem was instantly almost mundane, and its elegance was its own proof.

Proper noun

Gordian

  1. Gordianus, name of three Roman emperors.

Translations

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