'antwerp' originates from Dutch, specifically the word 'Antwerpen', where the elements are often analyzed as 'ant-' (possibly 'against') and 'werpen' ('to throw') in folk etymology; linguistic research, however, links it to Germanic roots meaning 'wharf' or 'raised land by the water'.

'Antwerpen' appeared in Medieval Latin as 'Antverpia' and in Middle Dutch as 'Anterwerpen', and it eventually became the modern English name 'Antwerp'.

Initially it referred to a place associated with a wharf or riverbank ('place at the wharf' in an early sense), but over time it came to be used primarily as the proper name of the city and the surrounding province.