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, Tapirus americanus.
3. In architecture, 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, Phytelephas macrocarpa. See Phytelephas.
5. A species of pier produced by thickening a wall at its termination, treated architecturally as a pilaster, with capital and base.