anent

Etymology

From Middle English anent, anempt (“insofar as, inasmuch as, in comparison with, with respect to, as regards, concerning, in the opinion or judgment of; next to, close to, up to, near, adjoining, across from, over against, facing”), from Old English on efn (“by; near”), from on + efn; synchronically analyzable as on- + even. Compare Dutch neven, German neben.

prep

1. (now rare) Concerning, with regard to, about, in respect to, as to, insofar as, inasmuch as, apropos.
   1937, L. Ron Hubbard, letter to Russell Hays, quoted in Literary Correspondence: Letters and Journals, p. 101, I have just found out something with which to repay that very kind favor of yours anent the "lift" angle on stories.
   This question remains a vital consideration anent the debate over the possibility of limiting nuclear war to military objectives, […] 1984, New York Times
   The invasion of privacy anent banking and financial activities was mainly an outcome of the income tax and the Drug War 2015, LT Wolf, The World King (fiction)
2. (obsolete) In the opinion or judgment of.
3. (obsolete) Against, in front of, fronting; before; opposite; over against, on the other side.
   […] if Painter did ever abide in the old bark mill said to be anent his brother's freehold. 2005, R.T. Smith, “Ina Grove”, in The Virginia Quarterly Review, volume 81, number 4, page 230
4. (obsolete) In a line with; side by side with; on a level with.
   ANENT, opposite. Usually "ovver-anent." 1865, William Stott Banks, Wakefield Words, page 4