antler
UK /ˈænt.lə/ · US /ˈænt.lɚ/ noun, proper noun
Forms antlers
- noun A deciduous branching and bony structure on the head of deer (Cervidae), normally in pairs, grown and shed each year. “While hiking in the woods, I found an antler from a deer.”
- proper noun A city and village in North Dakota.
Etymology
From Middle English auntelere, hauntelere, from Old French antoillier (“antler, horn”), from ante- (“in front of”) + oillier (oil (“eye”) + -ier (a suffix indicating location)), possibly from an unattested Latin *anteocularis (“before the eye”).
Named for nearby Antler Creek, whose branches resemble deer antlers when viewed on a map.
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [OE. auntelere, OF. antoillier, andoiller, endouiller, fr. F. andouiller, fr. an assumed LL. antocularis, fr. L. ante before + oculus eye. See Ocular.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “antler”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details