Learned borrowing from Latin ante (“before”). Doublet of and.
Meanings
A price or cost, as in up the ante.
“… There was a man who always painted marble seats and another who did nothing but sheep. So a fellow I knew determined only to paint backs. Men's backs, women's backs, girls' backs and boys backs. … his best known bacchante was described by a critic as all back and no ante, but his backs became famous. …” 1936, Herbert Adams, chapter 2, in A Word of Six Letters:
When it came to the more successful contestants, meanwhile, edits of the shows also began to fall heavily on sad backstories – the "sob story", if you will – instilling the idea that singers had to mine trauma from their lives to up the emotional ante, making them seem to be more "worthy" winners. 2021 September 15, Laura Martin, “How talent shows became TV's most bizarre programmes”, in BBC:
In poker and other games, the contribution made by all players to the pot, often before dealing all the cards.
fr enjeu (price or cost) · fi aloituspanos (initial contribution in games) · fr mise (price or cost) · fi panos (price or cost) · fi alkupanos (initial contribution in games) · fr mise (initial contribution in games) · fr enjeu (initial contribution in games) · cs počáteční vklad (initial contribution in games) · fr blinde (initial contribution in games) · fi avauspanos (initial contribution in games) · cs úvodní sázka (initial contribution in games)
fi maksaa alkupanos (To pay the ante in poker) · bg слагам миза (To pay the ante in poker) · uk роби́ти ста́вку (To pay the ante in poker) · fr miser (To pay the ante in poker) · fr parier (To make an investment in money, effort, or time before knowing one's chances) · ru делать ставку (To pay the ante in poker)