To be
labyrinthine is to have the properties of a
labyrinth.
The labyrinth has number properties:
- it appeared in Greek mythology
- a half-man half-bull monster called the Minotaur guarded the golden fleece by violently attacking anyone it found in the labyrinth
- the labyrinth was a maze of twisty passages all alike.
- Hercules (or perhaps Theseus), the super hero(s) of Greek mythology, wrestled and bested the Minotaur, driving it from the labyrinth
Generally
labyrinthine refers to the third property of
labyrinths,
vis ``she has a
labyrinthine mind'' means that a
woman's train of thought is hard to follow not that she has a
half-man half-bull monster hidden away in there.
Sources
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Herakles/bull.html
which is in direct conflict with
http://www.dilos.com/region/crete/labyrin.html