Anta

noun

1. A pilaster forming the end of a projecting lateral wall, as in some Greek temples, and constituting one boundary of the portico.
2. The native Brazilian name of the common or American tapir, <em>Tapirus americanus.</em>
3. In <em>architecture</em>, a pilaster, especially a pilaster in certain positions, as one of a pair on either side of a doorway, or one standing opposite a pillar; specifically, the pilaster used in Greek and Roman architecture to terminate one of the side walls of a building when these are prolonged beyond the face of the end wall.
4. A name in northwestern South America of the ivory-nut palm, <em>Phytelephas macrocarpa.</em> See <internalXref urlencoded="Phytelephas">Phytelephas</internalXref>.
5. A species of pier produced by thickening a wall at its termination, treated architecturally as a pilaster, with capital and base.