Definition of "anent"

Mr Bloom and Stephen entered the cabman’s shelter, an unpretentious wooden structure, where, prior to then, he had rarely, if ever, been before; the former having previously whispered to the latter a few hints anent the keeper of it […]

1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 16]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […]

I have just found out something with which to repay that very kind favor of yours anent the "lift" angle on stories.

1937, L. Ron Hubbard, letter to Russell Hays, quoted in Literary Correspondence: Letters and Journals, p. 101

The wings of the driver's Marlenesque nose shone, having shed or burned up their ration of powder, and she kept up an elegant monologue anent the local traffic, […]

1955, Vladimir Nabokov, chapter 11, in Lolita, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, published August 1958, part 1, page 53

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)

[…] 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

ANENT, opposite. Usually "ovver-anent."

1865, William Stott Banks, Wakefield Words, page 4