'anteportico' originates from Italian, specifically the word 'anteportico', where 'ante-' meant 'before' and 'porticus' (via Italian 'portico') meant 'portico' or 'colonnaded porch'.

'anteportico' changed from Latin elements 'ante' + 'porticus' (literally 'before the portico'), passed into Italian as 'anteportico', and was later borrowed into English with the same form and architectural sense.

Initially it meant 'the area before a portico' in a literal spatial sense; over time it has come to be used specifically for a forecourt or vestibule preceding a porch or colonnade.