'ante' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'ante', where 'ante' meant 'before'.

'ante' was borrowed into English (particularly American English) in the 19th century as a gambling term (from Latin via Spanish/Italian forms meaning 'before') to denote a stake placed before play; from the noun it became the verb 'to ante' and thus past forms such as 'anted'/'anteed'.

Initially it meant 'before' (a prepositional/adverbial sense), but over time it evolved into a noun meaning 'a stake put up before play' and then into the verb meaning 'to put up such a stake'.