View source for Ante - anti

The two [[prefix]]es '''ante''' and '''anti''' sound exactly the same.  The difference is that '''ant<big>e</big>''' means 'before', and '''ant<big>i</big>''' means 'against'.  

* '''Ant<big>e</big>''' is a prefix derived from a [[Latin]] word.  It can be used as 'before' in connection with both time (''''ant<big>e</big>'''diluvian'~ before the Flood, i.e Noah's Flood, in Christian, Islamic and Jewish writings) and place: an ''''ant<big>e</big>'''chamber' is a room that one enters before entering the main chamber - in other words, a waiting room.

* The prefix '''ant<big>i</big>''' comes from [[Greek]].  It has a general meaning of 'against', so ''''ant<big>i</big>'''clockwise' means 'in the opposite direction from the way a clock turns'.

Because they sound alike, these two can be confused. ''''Ant<big>e</big>'''-war' means before (a particular) war; '''ant<big>i</big>'''-war means against war (usually in general).  In American English, '''''ante-bellum''''' usually refers to the society and culture of the southern states before the [[Civil War]] (1861-65).

Confusingly, some words became part of the English language before spelling became fixed, in which the meaning 'before' was spelled with an ''i''.  ''[[OED]]'' lists "antibrachial, anticamera, antichamber, anticipate" as examples.

[[category:prefixes]]
[[category:homophones]]
[[Category:spelling common errors]]