'antes' (plural of 'ante') originates from Latin, specifically the word 'ante', where 'ante' meant 'before'.

'ante' entered English in the sense of a pre-dealt stake in the 19th century (likely via Spanish or Italian influence from the Latin 'ante'), and the plural form became 'antes' for multiple such stakes.

Initially 'ante' meant 'before' in Latin; over time, by extension of 'placed before a deal', it came to mean the small stake put up before a hand, and 'antes' denotes more than one such stake.