An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/ent-

by Friedrich Kluge

ent-, prefix, ‘forth, from, out, away,’ from Middle High German ent-, Old High German int-, an unaccented prefix corresponding to the accented ant-, which is of the same origin. In words with initial f, ent- even in Middle High German becomes emp-, hence empfangen (from fangen), empfinden (from finden), empfehlen (befehlen), Old High German int-fâhan, int-findan, *int-fëlhan. The meaning of the prefix belongs to grammar.—