An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/behende

by Friedrich Kluge

behende, adjective, ‘nimble, agile, active,’ from Middle High German behęnde, adverb, ‘suitably, conveniently, skilfully, quickly’; in Old High German we should have expected bi hęnti (dative), for which zi hęnti, ‘at once,’ occurs. The preposition is compounded with the dative of the substantive hant, Old High German hęnti; compare the similar origin of abhanden under ab.