The word meander comes from the Greek name Maiandros for the today Menderes carrying rivers in western Turkey. Large Meander and Small Meander, the small meander, however, originally had a different name in ancient times. Meander is the name for a river loop in a sequence such as that formed in sections with a low bottom slope and at the same time transported bedding (sand, gravel, stones).
An isolated river loop in the course of the river like the Saarschleife, on the other hand, is not designated as a meander, nor is a river knee (river loop with a markedly changed flow direction). As a simple measure of the meandering intensity, sinuosity is used. The meander is an orthogonal ornament used since the Neolithic period. The name was created based on the same name river loop.
