Gordian en · ADJ
Etymology
From Gordius + -an or Gordium + -an.
Meanings
- Of or pertaining to Gordium (now Yassihüyük in Turkey), capital of Phrygia.
- Of or pertaining to Gordius, king of Phrygia
- Of the Gordian knot.
-
Twisted; convoluted; tied as a knot.
[…] 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; […]
1819, John Keats, “Lamia”, in Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], published 1820, →OCLC, part I, page 6:[…] cloſe the Serpent ſly, Inſinuating, wove with Gordian twine His braided train, […]
1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 347–349: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.
2005, Lance Parkin, The Gallifrey Chronicles, page 205:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most Gordian | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more Gordian | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |