-ent

suffix.
1 forming adjectives denoting attribution of an action (consequent) or state (existent).
2 forming nouns denoting an agent (coefficient; president).
Etymology: from or after F -ent or L -ent- pres. part. stem of verbs (cf. -ANT)

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I. \\ənt, ^ənt; in some words chiefly with stress on the antepenult or by syncope on the penult (as “president”) sometimes ˌent; in common words “-erent” preceded by stressed vowel and consonant (as in “different”) often ərnt\ noun suffix (-s)

Etymology: Middle English, from Old French, from Latin -ent-, -ens, from present participle suffix of the 2d & 3d conjugations, from -e- (vowel of the 2d & 3d conjugations, + -nt-, -ns, present participle suffix — more at -ant

: one that performs (a specified action)

regent

resident

tangent

— compare -ant I

II. adjective suffix

Etymology: Middle English, from Old French, from Latin -ent-, -ens, present participle suffix

: doing, behaving, existing (in the way specified) : -ing

apparent

reverent

subsequent

— with verbs or verbal roots; compare -ant II

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a suffix, equivalent to -ant, appearing in nouns and adjectives of Latin origin: accident; different.

[ < L -ent- (s. of -ens), prp. suffix of conjugations 2, 3, 4]

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-ent,

suffix added to verbs.

1. to form adjectives that _____s; _____ing: »

Absorbent = that absorbs or absorbing. Indulgent = that indulges or indulging.

2. to form nouns one that _____s: »

Correspondent = one that corresponds. President = one that presides.

3. to form adjectives other meanings, as in competent, confident. See also -ant. (Cf. ↑-ant)

╂[< Latin -ēns, -entis, present participle endings of Latin verbs in -ēre, -ere, -īre]

Usage See -ance for usage note. (Cf. ↑-ance)

ent.,

entomology.

ENT (no periods),

ear, nose, and throat.

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[ənt; nt]

suffix

1) (forming adjectives) denoting an occurrence of action

refluent

■ denoting a state

convenient

2) (forming nouns) denoting an agent

coefficient

•

Origin:

from French, or from the Latin present participial verb stem -ent- (see also -ant)

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-ent [-ent] ;

» ↑-ant

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-ent, suffix

a. Fr. -ent, ad. L. -ent-em, the ending of pr. pples. of vbs. of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th conjugation, as rīdent-em, currentem, audientem. (In the pples. of the 3rd and 4th conjugation this ending represents OAryan -nt-, or perh. -ent-, of the ablaut-series -ent-, -ont-, -nt-; cf. Skr. -ant-, -at-, Gr. -οντ-, Goth. -and-, OE. -end-; in those of the 2nd conjugation it represents this suffix combined with the thematic -e- of the vb.; similarly the -ant- of the 1st conjugation includes a thematic -a-.) In OFr. this suffix and the corresponding -ant-em of the 1st conjugation were levelled under -ant, the sole ending of the Fr. pr. pple., as riant, courant, mourant, levant (:—L. levantem). At a later time many L. forms in -ent-, which had acquired an adj. sense, were adopted in Fr. as adjs. with the -ent- unchanged, as diligent, évident; some of these were duplicates of living ppl. forms in -ant, as convénient = convenant, provident = pourvoyant, confident = confiant. The Fr. words in -ant, -ent, which were adopted into Eng., have generally retained the form of the suffix which they had in Fr.; but since 1500 there has been a tendency to refashion them after Lat., and hence several words in -ant have changed that ending for -ent, either entirely or in certain senses. In mod.Eng. also many Lat. words in -entem have been directly adopted, always in the form -ent. The conflict between Eng. and Fr. analogies occasions frequent inconsistency and uncertainty in the present spelling of words with this suffix; cf. e.g. assistant, persistent; attendant, superintendent; dependant, -ent, independent.

2. In sense the words in -ent, -ant are primarily adjs., sometimes distinctly ppl., as convergent, obsolescent, errant, peccant; some, however, are, like many words of the same type in Lat. and Fr., used as ns. (either in addition to the adj. use or exclusively), meaning (a) a personal agent, as agent, claimant, president, regent; (b) a material agent, as coefficient, current, ingredient, secant, tangent, torrent; esp. in Medicine, as aperient, astringent, emollient, expectorant.