meander
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
Merriam-Webster
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🗓️ 15 August 2025
⏱️ 2 minutes
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Summary
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 15, 2025 is:
meander • \mee-AN-der\ • verb
To meander is to follow a winding or intricate course—that is, one with a lot of turns and curves—or to walk slowly without a specific goal, purpose, or direction.
// We spent the afternoon meandering around the seaside town.
// The river meanders through the canyon.
Examples:
"Hands down, my favorite hike has been the Seven Bridges Walk in downtown San Diego that starts at the world-famous San Diego Zoo and meanders about 4.5 miles through surrounding neighborhoods, the downtown area and then back to Balboa Park." — Scott Kramer, Forbes, 17 June 2025
Did you know?
Meander first meandered into the language in the late 16th century not as verb but as a noun referring to a turn or winding of a stream. The word came to English, by way of Latin, ultimately from Maiandros, the Greek name for a river known today as the Menderes River in what is now southwestern Turkey. The more popular verb use dates to the early 17th century and means both "to follow a winding or intricate course" and "to ramble." Despite its fluvial origins, these days meander is more commonly used to refer to a person's wandering course than a river's.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's Merriam Webster's Word of the Day for August 15th. |
| 0:10.0 | Today's word is meander, spelled M-E-A-N-D-E-R. |
| 0:17.0 | Meander is a verb. To meander is to follow a winding or intricate course, that is, |
| 0:22.8 | one with a lot of turns and curves, or to walk slowly without a specific goal, purpose, or |
| 0:28.2 | direction. Here's the word used, and a sentence from Forbes by Scott Kramer. |
| 0:33.3 | Hands down, my favorite hike has been the Seven Bridges Walk in downtown San Diego that |
| 0:38.5 | starts at the world-famous San Diego Zoo and meanders about four and a half miles through |
| 0:44.1 | surrounding neighborhoods, the downtown area, and then back to Balboa Park. |
| 0:49.4 | The word meander first meandered into the language in the late 16th century, not as a verb, but as a noun, |
| 0:56.0 | referring to a turn or winding of a stream. The word came to English by way of Latin, |
| 1:01.9 | ultimately from meandros, the Greek name for a river known today as the Menderes River, |
| 1:07.7 | in what is now southwestern Turkey. |
| 1:18.0 | The more popular verb use dates to the early 1600s and means both to follow a winding or intricate course and to ramble. Despite its fluvial origins, these days the word meander |
| 1:24.1 | is more commonly used to refer to a person's wandering course than a rivers. |
| 1:29.4 | With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sakalowski. |
| 1:35.8 | Visit Miriamwebster.com today for definitions, wordplay, and trending word lookups. |
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