'antiquer' originates from English, formed from the word 'antique' (borrowed from French 'antique'), where Latin 'antiquus' meant 'old'.

'antiquer' was created in English by adding the agentive suffix '-er' to 'antique' to denote a person associated with antiques; 'antique' entered English from Old French 'antique', which derived from Latin 'antiquus'.

Initially it related to the idea of 'old' (Latin 'antiquus') and to old objects; over time the derived term 'antiquer' came to mean 'a person who collects, studies, or deals in antiques.'