Meander

Variant spelling of Maeander, which is the latinized form of Μαίανδρος (Maiandros). The latter is the Greek name for a river that is nowadays known as the Büyük Menderes river, which is located in southwestern Turkey. But in ancient times, the river was located in Caria (in southern Asia Minor), with its source being in Phrygia. At the time, the river was famous for its numerous windings. The linguistic origin of the river's name is disputed - in other words, it is uncertain.

One source appears to theorize that the river's name is a hellenized form of what might originally have been a Carian, Phrygian or Lydian name. All three are extinct Indo-European languages, with Carian and Lydian belonging to the subgroup of Anatolian languages. This source mentioned that in these three languages, place names often had the suffix -anda, thus implying that this same suffix must have been part of the river's original name. An other source theorizes that the river's original name was actually Semitic in origin. It said that it is most likely derived from (biblical) Hebrew me 'yim meaning "bowels, intestines" (although that word can sometimes also mean "womb, source of procreation"), thus basically giving the name the meaning of "intestine river".

Seeing as both of the sources mentioned agree that the river's original name was not hellenic in origin and that Maiandros is simply the hellenized form of the original name, the possibility of the name actually being a genuine Greek name seems quite unlikely. This is strengthened by the fact that the river is located in an area that was never (natively) inhabited by peoples that spoke a hellenic language (such as Greek). But, if it actually were a genuine Greek name, then the first element would either have been derived from the name of the Greek goddess Maia 1, or from Greek μαῖα (maia) meaning "good mother" as well as "midwife". The latter is ultimately derived from the Greek verb μαίομαι (maiomai) meaning "to seek (after/for)" as well as "to deliver". The second element of the name would have been derived from Greek ανδρος (andros) meaning "of a man".

Finally, in Greek mythology, Meander was the patron deity of the aforementioned Maiandros river, after which he was named.