bent
English
Etymology 1
From Middle English bent-, preterite stem (as in bente, benten, etc.), and Middle English bent, ibent, ybent, past participle forms of Middle English benden (“to bend”). Equivalennt to bend + -t.
Adjective
bent (comparative benter or more bent, superlative bentest or most bent)
- (Of something that is usually straight) Folded, dented.
- Synonym: crooked
- (colloquial, chiefly UK) Corrupt, dishonest.
- Synonym: crooked
- (derogatory, colloquial, chiefly UK) Homosexual.
- Synonyms: queer; see also Thesaurus:homosexual
- Determined or insistent.
- Synonym: hell-bent
- He was bent on going to Texas, but not even he could say why.
- They were bent on mischief.
- 2017 July 7, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, “The ambitious War For The Planet Of The Apes ends up surrendering to formula”, in The Onion AV Club:
- […] in the ape posse, bent on vengeance, traversing landscapes clothed in snow and bristling with California red fir and silver pine, spooking human stragglers, and running across fresh graves as they search for the nameless colonel and try to piece together why the humans are killing each other.
- (Of a person) leading a life of crime.
- (slang, soccer) Inaccurately aimed.
- That shot was so bent it left the pitch.
- (colloquial, chiefly US) Suffering from the bends.
- (slang) High from both marijuana and alcohol.
- Man, I am so bent right now!
Derived terms
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Related terms
- (determined): hell-bent
Translations
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Noun
bent (plural bents)
- An inclination or talent.
- He had a natural bent for painting.
- c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 384:
- They fool me to the top of my bent.
- A predisposition to act or react in a particular way.
- His mind was of a technical bent.
- The state of being curved, crooked, or inclined from a straight line; flexure; curvity.
- the bent of a bow
- 1648, John Wilkins, Mathematical Magick:
- the force they have in the discharge , according to several bents
- A declivity or slope, as of a hill.
- 1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
- Beneath the lowering brow, and on a bent, / The temple stood of Mars armipotent
- Particular direction or tendency; flexion; course.
- a. 1705, John Locke, “Of the Conduct of the Understanding”, in Posthumous Works of Mr. John Locke: […], London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], published 1706, →OCLC:
- bents and turns of the matter
- (carpentry) A transverse frame of a framed structure; a subunit of framing.
- Tension; force of acting; energy; impetus.
- 1707, John Norris, Practical Discourses Upon the Beatitudes of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.:
- the full bent and stress of the soul
Synonyms
- (an inclination or talent): disposition, predilection, proclivity, propensity, see also Thesaurus:predilection
Derived terms
Translations
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Etymology 2
From Middle English bent, benet, from Old English *beonot (attested only in place-names and personal names), from Proto-West Germanic *binut (“reed, rush”), of uncertain origin.
Noun
bent (countable and uncountable, plural bents)
- Any of various stiff or reedy grasses.
- Synonym: bentgrass
- 1627, Michael Drayton, Nymphidia, published 1810, page 124:
- His spear a bent, both stiff and strong.
- 1888, Rudyard Kipling, “The Strange Ride of Morrowbie Jukes”, in The Phantom ’Rickshaw and Other Tales, Folio Society, published 2005, page 121:
- Gunga Dass gave me a double handful of dried bents which I thrust down the mouth of the lair to the right of his, and followed myself, feet foremost [...].
- 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “chapter 9”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:
- Clusters of strong flowers rose everywhere above the coarse tussocks of bent.
- A grassy area, grassland.
- c. 1500, The Ballad of Chevy Chase
- Bowmen bickered upon the bent.
- c. 1500, The Ballad of Chevy Chase
- The old dried stalks of grasses.
Derived terms
Dutch
Etymology
Innovative form replacing older zijt, which is still maintained in combination with the archaic/southern gij. The form bent was built by analogy with ben (“I am”) after jij had adopted the function of second-person singular. In this it may (but need not) have been influenced by Middle Dutch bes, the form used with the defunct singular pronoun du.[1]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bɛnt/
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -ɛnt
References
- A. van Loey, Schönfeld's Historische Grammatica van het Nederlands, 8. druk 1970, →ISBN; §147a
Hungarian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈbɛnt]
Audio (file) - Hyphenation: bent
- Rhymes: -ɛnt
Adverb
bent (comparative beljebb or bentebb, superlative legbeljebb or legbentebb)
Related terms
References
- bent in Zaicz, Gábor (ed.). Etimológiai szótár: Magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete (‘Dictionary of Etymology: The origin of Hungarian words and affixes’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2006, →ISBN. (See also its 2nd edition.)
Further reading
- bent , mostly redirecting to benn in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
- bent in Ittzés, Nóra (ed.). A magyar nyelv nagyszótára (‘A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published A–ez as of 2024)
Lithuanian
Old Norse
Scots
Alternative forms
- bynt
Etymology
From Old English beonet, compare Middle English bent.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈbɛnt/
Noun
bent (plural bents)
- (archaic, 14th century) Coarse or wiry grass growing upon moorlands.
- (archaic, 15th century) An area covered with coarse or wiry grass; a moor.
Derived terms
- benty (covered in bent)