An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/ent-

by Friedrich Kluge

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