What does anent mean?
Anent is a preposition meaning 'concerning' or 'regarding' — it signals that what follows relates to a particular matter or subject. A sentence such as 'he wrote to the council anent the condition of the bridge' uses it exactly where a modern writer would say 'about' or 'with regard to'. The word is ancient, tracing back to Old English, yet it never became standard across the English-speaking world; instead it took firm root in Scots and Northern English, where it remains genuinely current in legal drafting, church session minutes, and official correspondence. Elsewhere it reads as archaic or charmingly old-fashioned. Anent usually sits after its object rather than before it — one speaks of 'the question anent taxation' rather than leading with the word. For readers, it is worth knowing chiefly because it still surfaces in Scottish public life; for writers, it offers a compact, historically resonant alternative to 'about' when a formal or regional register suits the occasion.
prepositionConcerning or regarding something; 'anent' introduces the matter being discussed or dealt with.
- As a preposition: concerning, regarding, or in connection with (a specified subject or matter).
"The committee passed a resolution anent the repair of the parish kirk."
"He wrote to the council anent the state of the roads."
"Little was said anent the matter at the meeting itself."
'Anent' has been quietly doing the job of 'about' for over a thousand years — it's older than 'regarding', and Scots law still uses it today.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of anent
Anent derives from Old English 'on emn', meaning 'level with' or 'alongside', formed from 'on' plus 'emn' (even, level) — a word related to modern 'even'. Over time the spatial sense shifted to a relational one, so that being 'level with' a matter came to mean dealing with or concerning it. The form was already established in Middle English and survived robustly in Scots and Northern dialects while fading elsewhere, remaining in active legal use in Scotland into the present day. Its Germanic relatives include 'even' and its derivatives, all descending from the same Old English root.
How anent is actually used
Highly formal and now largely archaic outside Scotland and northern England, where it survives in legal documents, church minutes, and traditional registers. It typically follows its object or appears mid-phrase ('the question anent X') rather than opening a sentence. Using it elsewhere sounds deliberately quaint or antiquarian.
Easily confused with anent
'Event' is a noun meaning something that happens, while 'anent' is a preposition meaning 'concerning'; the resemblance is purely coincidental.