grens

Grens is a Dutch noun meaning border, boundary, edge or limit. In everyday language it is used for the outer edge of something, as well as for political or administrative borders between regions or states. In mathematics and related disciplines, grens denotes a limit, the value that a function or sequence approaches.

Etymology: Grens is a native Dutch word with cognates in other Germanic languages. It is related to the German Grenze and shares roots that refer to a dividing line or boundary.

Geography and politics: Political borders delineate jurisdictions, sovereignty, and legal regimes. Borders can be physical, such as fences or coastlines, or invisible, such as administrative boundaries. They are established by treaties or recognized by international law and can be open or controlled. Border regions often involve measures of customs, immigration control, and cross-border cooperation.

Other uses: The word is also used for non-political limits, such as the edge of a field or the rim of a circle, and, in mathematics, as the concept of a limit: the grens value that a sequence tends toward. In Dutch phrases, grens appears in expressions about personal or social boundaries, for example gaan over grenzen heen (to go beyond one’s limits).

Examples: The Netherlands shares land borders with Belgium and Germany and has a coastline along the North Sea, forming several international and maritime borders.