Meander (art)

Meander (or Greek key) on a stove in the Dimitrie Sturdza House (Strada Arthur Verona no. 13), Bucharest, Romania, unknown architect, 1883
Meander motif in the streets of Rhodes, Greece, in pavement made from beach stones

A meander or meandros[1] (Greek: Μαίανδρος) is a decorative border constructed from a continuous line, shaped into a repeated motif. Among some Italians, these patterns are known as "Greek Lines". Such a design may also be called the Greek fret or Greek key design, although these terms are modern designations; this decorative motif appears thousands of years before that culture, thousands of miles away from Greece, and among cultures that are continents away from it. Usually the term is used for motifs with straight lines and right angles and the many versions with rounded shapes are called running scrolls or, following the etymological origin of the term, may be identified as water wave motifs.

  1. ^ The Greek term maíandros and its Latinized variant meandros are not very common outside of archaeological contexts.

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