QUIZZES
DISCOVER THE INFLUENCE OF PORTUGUESE ON ENGLISH VIA THIS QUIZ!
We’ve gathered some interesting words donated to English from Portuguese … as well as some that just don’t translate at all. Do you know what they mean?
Question 1 of 11
Which of the following animal names traces its immediate origin to Portuguese?
Origin of bent
1First recorded in 1525–35; originally past participle of bend1
Words nearby bent
benoxaprofen, Bensenville, Benson, Benson's disease, bensulide, bent, bent grass, Bentham, Benthamism, benthic, benthon
Definition for bent (2 of 2)
bent2
[ bent ]
/ bɛnt /
noun
a stalk of bent grass.
Scot., North England. (formerly) any stiff grass or sedge.
British Dialect. a moor; heath; tract of uncultivated, grassy land, used as a pasture or hunting preserve.
Origin of bent
2First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English; earlier benet-, bunet- (in compounds), Old English beonet-, beonot- (in placenames); cognate with Old High German binuz (compare German Binse ) “the rush plant”
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for bent
British Dictionary definitions for bent (1 of 2)
bent1
/ (bɛnt) /
adjective
not straight; curved
(foll by on) fixed (on a course of action); resolved (to); determined (to)
slang
- dishonest; corrupt
- (of goods) stolen
- crazy; mad
- British offensive homosexual
noun
personal inclination, propensity, or aptitude
capacity of endurance (esp in the phrase to the top of one's bent)
civil engineering a framework placed across a structure to stiffen it
British Dictionary definitions for bent (2 of 2)
bent2
/ (bɛnt) /
noun
short for bent grass
a stalk of bent grass
archaic any stiff grass or sedge
Scot and Northern English dialect heath or moorland
Word Origin for bent
Old English bionot; related to Old Saxon binet, Old High German binuz rush
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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