ante
/ˈænti/preposition, noun, verb
ante is spelled A-N-T-E: 4 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 18,811th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “ante vs anti” about 70 times a month (Google, United States). As a preposition, ante means “Synonym of before, earlier in time, particularly used in historical dating” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in ante?
| Letters | 4: A-N-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.1 times per million words; the 18,811th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is ante?
Ante appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 18,811th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce ante?
- UK /ˈænti/
- US /ˈænti/
- US [ˈɛənti]
Ante has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-ante.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with ante
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: anti, anty, auntie (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with ante?
4 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as ante from its last stressed vowel (/ænti/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: neat, etna, tane, neta, anet.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of ante
- a.
- antes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- anteing participle, present
- anted participle, past
- anteed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ante mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
preposition
- 1
Synonym of before, earlier in time, particularly used in historical dating.
The wall was built at some time a. 1400.
noun
- 1
A price or cost, as in up the ante.
- 2
In poker and other games, the contribution made by all players to the pot, often before dealing all the cards.
verb
- 1
To pay the ante in poker. Often used as ante up.
- 2
To make an investment in money, effort, or time before knowing one's chances.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate ante?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of ante: a..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ante in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does ante come from?
Learned borrowing from Latin ante (“before”). Doublet of and.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).