ent

• Rhymes: -ɛnt

Introduced by J. R. R. Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings, 1954–55, from Old English ent (“giant”), from Proto-Germanic *antiz.

ent (plural ents) (feminine entwife)

1. (fantasy) A fictional large talking tree in works by J. R. R. Tolkien.
   • 2003, Walter Scheps, "The Fairy-tale Morality of The Lord of the Rings", in Jared Lobdell (ed.), A Tolkien Compass

     [...] and that fine young ent Quickbeam is merely a minor crux in an Old English glossary (the name Quickbeam means 'living tree' in Old English).

   • 2003, Colin Duriez, Tolkien and C. S. Lewis: The Gift of Friendship

     Tolkien's Treebeard, his Ent creation, was inspired by Lewis, especially his sometimes emphatic deep voice

   • 2003, Ralph C. Wood, The Gospel According to Tolkien: Visions of the Kingdom in Middle-earth

     Tolkien perhaps speaks for himself when he has Treebeard confess that "nobody cares for the woods as I care for them," and when this same Ent also warns that "the withering of all woods may be drawing near"

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

ent (third-person singular simple present ents, present participle enting, simple past and past participle ented)

1. (dialectal, Britain, Devon) To empty or pour.
   • 1976, K. C. Phillips: Westcountry Words and Ways, David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1976, p. 47

     A Truro correspondent remembers being sent to buy a teapot with the admonition 'and see he got a good ent to un'; that is, of course, a good 'pour'.

     "Enting down with rain" is still occasionally heard.

• .NET, Net, TEN, net, ten

From Middle Dutch ente, from enten (“to graft”) (modern Dutch enten), from Old French enter, from Latin imputāre.

• Audio

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• Rhymes: -ɛnt
• IPA^(key): /ɛnt/

ent m (plural enten, diminutive entje n)

1. graft particularly on a tree

ent

1. first-, second- and third-person singular present indicative of enten
2. imperative of enten

• net, ten

ent

1. but

• ënt

ent m (plural enc)

1. entity
2. corporation, body

From Proto-Germanic *antiz (“giant”), of unknown origin. Cognate with Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐍄- (ant-, “giant-”, prefix).

• IPA^(key): /ent/

ent m (nominative plural entas)

1. giant

• eoten
• þyrs

• entisc

• Middle English: eont
• → English: ent

From Proto-Germanic *antiz (“giant”), of unknown origin. Cognate with Old English ent, Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐍄- (ant-, “giant-”, prefix).

ent m

1. giant

• entisk