meandernd

Meandernd is a German adjective and present participle of the verb meandern. It describes movement or form that follows a winding, sinuous course or displays indirect, irregular movement. The term is common in geography, landscape description and literary criticism.

The verb meandern derives from the noun Meander, the name of a river in ancient Ionia (modern-day Turkey). The river’s frequently curved channel gave the name to the general phenomenon of sinuous river courses. The noun Meander and the English meander share the same origin.

In geomorphology and hydrology, a meander is a bend in a river caused by erosion on the outer bank and deposition on the inner bank. A meandering river often forms loops, cutoffs and related landforms. The term "meandernd" can describe a landscape or watercourse characterized by such sinuosity, for example "eine meandernde Flusslandschaft" or "eine meandernde Küstenlinie."

In linguistic, literary and rhetorical contexts, "meandernd" can describe digressive, winding narrative or argumentation. It may also describe streets, routes, or roads that wind rather than proceeding in a straight line. The corresponding noun forms are Meanderung (the act of meandering) and Meander (the bend itself).

See also: Meander (Geographie), Meanderung.