Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Anta \An"ta\, n.; pl. {Ant[ae]}. [L.] (Arch.)
   A species of pier produced by thickening a wall at its
   termination, treated architecturally as a pilaster, with
   capital and base.

   Note: Porches, when columns stand between two ant[ae], are
         called in Latin in antis.