ent

ent · noun¹

1. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*anti
2. Old English · learned borrowing froment“giant”
3. English todayent

Learned borrowing from Old English ent (“giant”), from Proto-West Germanic *anti; introduced by J. R. R. Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings, 1954–55, as Ent. Compare Middle English *ent, eont (“giant”), inherited from the Old English word, but which apparently did not survive through the Middle English period into Modern times. Apparently survived in some German dialects as Enz (“giant”), also in composite forms. Compare ettin.

ent · verb²

Possibly from empty, through assimilation of /m/ to the following /t/.