meander means A town in Meander Valley council area, northern Tasmania, Australia. It carries an Arena rating of 1846, earned across 13 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, meander ranks #139 of 42,749 for Qualifying, #202 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #254 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #310 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words.
meander is pronounced /miˈæn.də(ɹ)/.
Why “meander” is a great word
A sinuous bend in a river’s course, or any similarly graceful, winding path or journey. From Latin Maeander, from Ancient Greek Μαίανδρος (Maíandros), the name of a river in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) famous for its winding path. Unlike “wander,” which implies an idle or aimless drift, or “straighten,” which is its geometric antithesis, to meander is to follow a deliberate, elegant curvilinearity. It is the hypnotic loop of a river oxbow seen from the air, the deliberate, unhurried pacing of a Sunday stroll through a labyrinthine garden, and the digressive charm of a story told by a fireside—movement not toward, but along, as if duration itself could bend like water, and the way forward were indistinguishable from the way aside.
Etymology
From Latin Maeander, from Ancient Greek Μαίανδρος (Maíandros) – a river in Asia Minor (present day Turkey) known for its winding course (modern Turkish Menderes).
name
- A town in Meander Valley council area, northern Tasmania, Australia.
- A river in northern Tasmania, which joins the South Esk.
noun
- One of the turns of a winding, crooked, or involved course.e.g.“the meanders of an old river, or of the veins and arteries in the body”
- One of a series of regular sinuous curves, bends, loops, turns, or windings in the channel of a river, stream, or other watercoursee.g.“See, how the streams advancing to the main, / Through crooked channels draw their crystal train! / While lingering thus they in meanders glide, / They scatter verdant life on either side.” — 1712, Sir Richard Blackmore, Creation: A Philosophical Poem:
- A tortuous or winding journey.
- Synonym of Greek key, a decorative border; fretwork.e.g.“The scales are conceived of as meander fretwork; but I do not know whether, for this reason, this fish is associated with thunder.” — 1912, Field Museum of Natural History, Anthropological Series, page 227:
- A self-avoiding closed curve which intersects a line a number of times.
- A path on which the directions, distances, and elevations are noted, as a part of a land survey.
- A decorative border consisting of a repeated linear motif, particularly of intersecting perpendicular lines.
verb
- To wind or turn in a course or passagee.g.“The stream meandered through the valley.”
- To be intricate.e.g.“His speech meandered through various topics.”
- To wind, turn, or twist; to make flexuous.e.g.“Her labyrinth-like ţurns, and mad meander'd trace[…]” — 1612, Michael Drayton, “(please specify the chapter)”, in [John Selden], editor, Poly-Olbion. Or A Chorographicall Description of Tracts, Riuers, Mountaines, Forests, and Other Parts of this Renowned
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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