-ent

From Middle English -ent, also -ant, -aunt, etc., from Old French -ent and its source Latin -ēns (accusative singular -entem), suffix of present participles of verbs in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th conjugations.^[1]

-ent

1. Causing, doing, or promoting a certain action.

   absorbent, efficient

2. One that causes, does, or promotes a certain action.

   agent, deterrent

• Adjectives terminating in -ent are usually accompanied by derived nouns having -ence or -ency, as cadence and ardency.

• -ant, -ance, -ancy

• William Dwight Whitney and Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1914), “-ent”, in The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language, revised edition, volume II, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC, page 1944, column 3.

• .NET, NET, Net, TEN, net, ten

• IPA^(key): /ɛnt/

-ent

1. -ent (Latinate suffix forming nouns and adjectives)

Inherited from Latin -entem. Mostly confined to learned formations; inherited words tend to use the spelling -ant.

• IPA^(key): /ɑ̃/
• Homophone: -ant

-ent (feminine -ente, masculine plural -ents, feminine plural -entes)

1. adjectival and nominal suffix

   content, inconvénient, spinescent

Inherited from Latin -ant, -ent, -iunt.

• Generally silent. Before a vowel optionally IPA^(key): /t‿/.

-ent

1. forms the third-person plural present indicative form of a verb

   Elles marchent. ― They walk.

2. forms the third-person plural present subjunctive form of a verb

From -e- (linking vowel) +‎ -n (instantaneous suffix) +‎ -t (causative suffix).^[1]

• IPA^(key): [ɛnt]
• Rhymes: -ɛnt

-ent

1. (instantaneous suffix) Added to a stem - often an onomatopoeia - to form a verb expressing an instantaneous action.

   tüsszent (“to sneeze”)

• (instantaneous suffix) Variants:

  -ant is added to back-vowel words

  -ent is added to front-vowel words

• -int
• Appendix:Hungarian suffixes

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ent/, [ɛn̪t̪]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ent/, [ɛn̪t̪]

-ent

1. third-person plural present active subjunctive of -ō (first conjugation)

• IPA^(key): /ɛnt/

-ent

1. (literary) verb suffix for the third-person plural imperfect/conditional
2. (literary) verb suffix for the third-person plural imperative