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Definition: Gordian Knot |
Gordian KnotNoun1. Any very difficult problem; insoluble in its own terms. 2. An intricate knot tied by King Gordius of Phrygia and cut with his sword by Alexander the Great after hearing that whoever undid it would become ruler of Asia. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
| Domain | Definition |
Literature | Gordian Knot A great difficulty. Gordius, a peasant, being chosen king of Phrygia, dedicated his waggon to Jupiter, and fastened the yoke to a beam with a rope of bark so ingeniously that no one could untie it. Alexander was told that "whoever undid the knot would reign over the whole East." "Well then," said the conqueror, "it is thus I perform the task," and, so saying, he cut the knot in twain with his sword. To cut the knot is to evade a difficulty, or get out of it in a summary manner. "Such praise the Macedonian got. For having rudely cut the Gordian knot." Waller: To the King. "Turn him to any cause of policy, The Gordian knot of it he will unloose, Familiar as his garter." Shakespeare: Henry V. i. 1. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
When Alexander could find no end to the knot, to unbind it, he sliced it in half with a stroke of his sword, producing the required ends (the so-called "Alexandrian solution").
Alexander's myth-makers encouraged the spread of a legend that whoever untangled the knot would rule the world.
The knot may in fact have been a religious knot-cipher guarded by Gordium's priests and priestesses. It may have symbolized the ineffable name of Dionysus (Robert Graves opined) that, enknotted like a cipher, would have been passed on through generations of priests and revealed only to the kings of Phrygia.
Reference
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Gordian Knot."
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Complexity | Noun: complexity; complexness; Adjective: complexus; complication, implication; intricacy, intrication; perplexity; network, labyrinth; wilderness, jungle; involution, raveling, entanglement; coil; (convolution); sleave, tangled skein, knot, Gordian knot, wheels within wheels; kink, gnarl, knarl; webwork. |
Convolution | Adverb: in and out, round and round; a can of worms; Gordian knot. |
Difficulty | Dilemma, embarrassment; deadlock; perplexity; (uncertainty); intricacy; entanglement, complexity; cross fire; awkwardness, delicacy, ticklish card to play, knot, Gordian knot, dignus vindice nodus, net, meshes, maze; coil; (convolution); crooked path; involvement. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Gordian Knot |
| English words defined with "Gordian knot": Gordius. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Gordian Knot (1911) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
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Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | A difficult task : here, Woodrow, I want you to see if you can't untie this gordian knot!. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Our own Gordian knot. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
Expressions using "Gordian knot": cut the gordian knot ♦ the Gordian knot ♦ to cut the Gordian knot. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
gordian knot | 225 |
download gordian knot | 6 |
dvd gordian knot | 3 |
gordian knot pack rip | 3 |
codec gordian knot | 2 |
codec gordian knot pack | 2 |
0.28 gordian knot | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "Gordian knot"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | γόρδιοσ δεσμόσ. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | gordiuszi csomó. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 快刀乱麻'断つ (to cut the Gordian knot, to solve an extreme difficulty at a stroke). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | かいとうら"ま'たつ (to cut the Gordian knot). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | ordiangay otknay nodul gordian. (various references) гордиев узел. (various references) gordisk knut. (various references) yırtmak (claw, cut the gordian knot, lacerate, rend, rip, rip up, Rive, slash, slit, squirm out of, tear, tear to pieces), son anda çözüm bularak kurtulmak (cut the gordian knot), paçayı sıyırmak (cut the gordian knot, escape, have a narrow escape, live through, save one's bacon). (various references) vấn đề rắc rối, vấn đề phức tạp, vấn đề khó giải quyết (puzzle, puzzler), vấn đề hắc búa (poser, sticker). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | Calidris canutus, RM:rivarel grisch. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-d-g-i-k-n-n-o-o-r-t" | |
-2 letters: ratooning. | |
-3 letters: adorning, donating, donation, ignorant, rigadoon, rogation, tandoori, troaking. | |
-4 letters: adoring, andiron, atoning, darking, darning, darting, diatron, doating, donator, dragoon, droning, gadroon, karting, narking, odorant, orating, oration, organon, ranking, ranting, rooking, rooting, tandoor, tanking, tornado, trading, troking. | |
-5 letters: adroit, agorot, anoint, anting, aroint, daikon, dakoit, daring, dating, doting, dragon, drongo, ganoid, gitano, gonion. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Photo Album 6. Expressions 7. Expressions: Internet 8. Translations: Modern | 9. Translations: Ancient 10. Anagrams 11. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
