Other forms: meandering, meanders, meandered
To meander is to wander along with no direct route. Bends, loops, and no hurry to arrive.
Rivers gave us the word, and a meander is a technical term in geography for one of those loops, which deepen over time until the river cuts across and leaves an oxbow lake behind. The word comes from the Maeander, a famously winding river in what is now Turkey. People meander too, and so do conversations, and describing a talk as meandering is a polite way of saying it had no structure at all.
Ancient Greek
Μαίανδρος
Latin
Maeander
English, today
meander
From Latin Maeander, from Ancient Greek Μαίανδρος – a river in Asia Minor (present day Turkey) known for its winding course (modern Menderes).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in Sharper Verbs, A Man Called Ove
First appears in chapter 18 of A Man Called Ove.
Practise this word