Etymology: Apparently cognate with or formed similarly to Old High German gihenti (predicative adjective) helpful, at hand (Middle High German gehende , gehente ), and perhaps also North Frisian (Föhr, Amrum) hen , hän small, fragile, worthless, and the adverbs in the sense ‘near’ cited at yhende adv. and prep., all ultimately < the Germanic base of y- prefix + the Germanic base of hand n., with a suffix (ja -stem) causing i-mutation. Compare further the Old English compound adjectives cited in the etymology at handed adj. with a formally identical second element -hende in the sense ‘having a hand or hands of a specified kind’, and likewise compounds of Old Icelandic -hendr (e.g. einhendr one-handed, having only one hand, also early in compounds designating poetic metres). Compare also discussion at hendy adj. and n.In North Frisian the loss of the prefix is regular; compare similar loss in later Germanic parallels of yhende adv. The semantic development of the Germanic base of yhende adj. was apparently complex and its analysis poses difficulties; the original sense may have been ‘that is at or to hand’. The sense ‘near’, which developed from this, is typically attested in the Germanic languages for adverbs derived from the same base; compare yhende adv. and its parallels. With the semantic development of the adjective in German compare later hend adj. and the discussion at that entry. Compare also the similar semantic development shown by Middle High German behende quick, dexterous, clever, fitting, fine (apparently < Old High German *bī henti, literally ‘by hand’).

Etymology: Probably cognate with or similarly formed to Old Frisian hende , hinde , Middle Dutch gehende , ghehende (also without prefix as hende , heinde , Dutch heinde ), adverbs meaning ‘near’, and also Middle Low German hende dexterously < the Germanic base of yhende adj. + a suffix forming adverbs. For the loss of the prefix in some continental Germanic forms see discussion at yhende adj.The adverb was already in Old English formally indistinguishable from the uninflected form of yhende adj. For this reason, use in predicative constructions can be ambiguous with regard to the part of speech of the word. Compare discussion at hend adj. 1a, hend adv. 1. With use as preposition compare also the Old English construction of yhende adj. with dative complement (compare e.g. quot. lOE at yhende adj.).