Labyrinthi

Labyrinthi is the Latin plural form of labyrinth, used in Latin-language scholarship to designate multiple labyrinths. In English, the term labyrinth is usually treated as singular, and labyrinths is the standard plural. In contemporary discourse the pair labyrinth and maze are sometimes used interchangeably, but many sources retain a distinction: labyrinths are unicursal; mazes are multicursal.

A labyrinth is a single, non-branching path that leads to the center and back out again, designed for contemplative walking. A maze is a puzzle with branching passages intended to mislead or challenge the solver. Historically, both forms have appeared in architecture, garden design, and ritual spaces. The modern term labyrinth is sometimes applied to mazes in popular usage, but traditional definitions maintain the unicursal versus multicursal distinction.

Etymology and myth: The word derives from Greek labyrinthos, via Latin labyrinthus. In Greco-Roman myth, Daedalus is said to have built the Labyrinth on Crete to house the Minotaur; the Knossos site is associated with the myth rather than a surviving structure. Later medieval and Renaissance cultures produced unicursal labyrinths in cathedrals and gardens.

Cultural and modern use: Labyrinths have been used for ritual pilgrimages, meditation, and art. The Chartres Cathedral labyrinth (12th century) remains a canonical example of a unicursal floor labyrinth. Garden labyrinths, turf mazes, and hedge mazes proliferated in Europe and beyond, adapting to parks, sanctuaries, and public spaces. Today labyrinths are common in therapeutic settings and spiritual landscapes, valued for contemplative movement and symbolic meaning.