querenden

Querenden is a historical German noun used rarely in older texts to denote "crossers"—people who move across borders, rivers, or landscapes in a transverse manner. The term derives from quer-, a Germanic root meaning across or crosswise, combined with the agent suffix -end, forming a present-participle-like element that later functioned as a noun for those who cross.

In usage, querenden appears in medieval and early modern glossaries and travel narratives to describe groups that traverse difficult terrain or border regions. The sense can be literal (border-crossers, pilgrims, merchants crossing mountains) or metaphorical (those who cross social or cultural boundaries). The form is largely archaic in modern German, with more common alternatives such as Grenzgänger or Durchquerer for crossing persons. In English-language scholarship, the term is encountered only in discussions of historical linguistics or translations of German texts and is rarely used in contemporary writing.

Scholarly notes emphasize that "querenden" is not a standard dictionary entry in modern German dictionaries; it tends to appear in philological apparatuses when quoting older texts or glossaries. For related concepts, see quer (cross, across) and Durchquerung (perambulation). The term should not be confused with Querdenken, the modern German movement formed around lateral thinking.