maze (redirected from mazes)

maze, detail of landscape gardening based on the Greek labyrinth, consisting of intricate paths or alleys lined with high hedges and having a center and exit difficult to find. It was a prominent feature in the formal English gardens of the 17th and 18th cent., the most notable being that of Hampton Court Palace, London. Some medieval cathedrals, e.g., Amiens, had a pattern of contrasting stones on the floor of the nave that was also called a maze.

---

labyrinth

 or maze

System of intricate passageways and blind alleys. Labyrinth was the name given by the ancient Greeks and Romans to buildings, entirely or partly underground, containing a number of chambers and passages that made egress difficult. From the European Renaissance on, labyrinths or mazes consisting of intricate paths separated by high hedges were a feature of formal gardens.

---

maze [māz]

(psychology)

A network of paths, blind alleys, and compartments; used in intelligence tests and in experimental psychology for developing learning curves.