An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/behende

by Friedrich Kluge

behende, adj., ‘nimble, agile, active,’ from MidHG. behęnde, adv., ‘suitably, conveniently, skilfully, quickly’; in OHG. we should have expected bi hęnti (dat.), for which zi hęnti, ‘at once,’ occurs. The prep. is compounded with the dat. of the subst. hant, OHG. hęnti; comp. the similar origin of abhanden under ab.