anent

A1N1E1N1T1
/əˈnɛnt/

preposition

Concerning, with regard to, about, in respect to, as to, insofar as, inasmuch as, apropos.

Similar
aproposas foraboutapropos ofas far asas regardsas relates toas respects
OriginMiddle English anent ← Old English on efn →
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Meanings

preposition
  1. archaicConcerning, with regard to, about, in respect to, as to, insofar as, inasmuch as, apropos.

    1937, L. Ron Hubbard, letter to Russell Hays, quoted in Literary Correspondence: Letters and Journals, p. 101, I have just found out something with which to repay that very kind favor of yours anent the "lift" angle on stories.

    4 more examples

    Mr Bloom and Stephen entered the cabman’s shelter, an unpretentious wooden structure, where, prior to then, he had rarely, if ever, been before; the former having previously whispered to the latter a few hints anent the keeper of it […]

    1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 16]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC

    The wings of the driver's Marlenesque nose shone, having shed or burned up their ration of powder, and she kept up an elegant monologue anent the local traffic, […]

    1955 September 15, Vladimir Nabokov, chapter 11, in Lolita, Paris: The Olympia Press […], →OCLC, page 53

    This question remains a vital consideration anent the debate over the possibility of limiting nuclear war to military objectives, […]

    1984, New York Times

    The invasion of privacy anent banking and financial activities was mainly an outcome of the income tax and the Drug War

    2015, LT Wolf, The World King (fiction), →ISBN

    Synonyms: apropos, as for, about, apropos, apropos of, as far as, as for, as regards

  2. obsoleteIn the opinion or judgment of.
  3. obsoleteAgainst, in front of, fronting; before; opposite; over against, on the other side.

    […] if Painter did ever abide in the old bark mill said to be anent his brother's freehold.

    2005, R.T. Smith, “Ina Grove”, in The Virginia Quarterly Review, volume 81, number 4, page 230
  4. obsoleteIn a line with; side by side with; on a level with.

    ANENT, opposite. Usually "ovver-anent."

    1865, William Stott Banks, Wakefield Words, page 4

Synonyms & antonyms

prepositionConcerning, with regard to, about, in respect to, as to, insofar as, inasmuch as, apropos.

Similar
aproposas foraboutaproposapropos ofas far asas foras regardsas relates toas respectsas toconcerned withconnected withconcerningdealing within reference toin regard toin regards toin relation to
Also see
aboutin regard torewith respect to

Origin

  1. Old Englishon efn“by; near”
  2. Middle Englishanent
  3. Englishanent

From Middle English anent, anempt (“in comparison with, concerning, in the opinion of; close to, against”), from Old English on efn (“by; near”), from on + efn. Compare Dutch neven, German neben.

More words from Middle English, Old English

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with anent

contenteventpresentpercentsentwentrentsaintpreventcentspentextentconsentkentsegmententintentfrequentabsenttentaccentcementbrentfragment
All rhymes →

Anagrams

annetTenna
Cite this entry
APA

anent. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anent

MLA

“anent.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anent. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “anent,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/anent.

Source: anent on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.