antique

[an-teek]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR antique ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

of or belonging to the past; not modern.

dating from a period long ago: antique furniture.

noting or pertaining to automobiles approximately 25 years old or more.

in the tradition, fashion, or style of an earlier period; old-fashioned; antiquated.

of or belonging to the ancient Greeks and Romans.

(of paper) neither calendered nor coated and having a rough surface.

ancient¹.

noun

any work of art, piece of furniture, decorative object, or the like, created or produced in a former period, or, according to U.S. customs laws, 100 years before date of purchase.

the antique style, usually Greek or Roman, especially in art.

Printing. a style of type.

verb (used with object), an·tiqued, an·ti·quing.

to make or finish (something, especially furniture) in imitation of antiques.

to emboss (an image, design, letters, or the like) on paper or fabric.

verb (used without object), an·tiqued, an·ti·quing.

to shop for or collect antiques: She spent her vacation antiquing in Boston.

Origin of antique

1520–30; earlier also anticke (< Middle French antique) < Latin antīiquus, antīicus in front, existing earler, ancient; cf. antic, posticum

Related formsan·tique·ly, adverban·tique·ness, nounpseu·do·an·tique, adjective, nounqua·si-an·tique, adjectivesub·an·tique, adjectivesub·an·tique·ly, adverbsub·an·tique·ness, noun

Can be confusedantic antique

Synonyms for antique

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR antique ON THESAURUS.COM

1. bygone, archaic. 2. old, obsolete, obsolescent.

Synonym study

2. See ancient¹.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for antique

ancient, heirloom, relic, antiquity, artifact, aged, elderly, superannuated, vestige, ruin, rarity, bygone, monument, obsolescent, obsolete, out-of-date, outdated, prehistoric

Examples from the Web for antique

Contemporary Examples of antique

The library in Williamsburg itself is illuminated with antique filament bulbs and everything inside is of the past or a nod to it.
Blurred Lines at NY Sketchbook Museum
Daniel Genis
November 1, 2014
Fully when I got that call I was at an antique mall with my mom.
How Aidy Bryant Stealthily Became Your Favorite ‘Saturday Night Live’ Star
Kevin Fallon
October 31, 2014
She was in a Chicago antique mall with her mom when she found out she got the audition.
How Aidy Bryant Stealthily Became Your Favorite ‘Saturday Night Live’ Star
Kevin Fallon
October 31, 2014
For $4, he bought an antique picture frame and everything it contained.
7 Historically Significant Artifacts Rescued by Happenstance
The Daily Beast
October 24, 2014
Dusty books, smoking pipes, tarot cards, and a Ouija board fill the antique furniture positioning any object as a clue.
Escape the Room—New York's Hottest Game
Justin Jones
September 15, 2014

Historical Examples of antique

They are what modern life has contributed to the antique ideal of friendship.
De Profundis
Oscar Wilde
So far she had only been set to do landscape, and laborious drawings of casts from the antique.
The Incomplete Amorist
E. Nesbit
As Raphael is supposed to have said, all that was lacking to him was knowledge of the antique.
Albert Durer
T. Sturge Moore
And for art-lovers, what perennial beauty of an antique art is here.
The Book of Khalid
Ameen Rihani
Here, indeed, is an up-to-date hermit, not an antique troglodyte.
The Book of Khalid
Ameen Rihani

British Dictionary definitions for antique

antique

noun

a decorative object, piece of furniture, or other work of art created in an earlier period, that is collected and valued for its beauty, workmanship, and age
(as modifier)an antique shop

any object made in an earlier period

the antique the style of ancient art, esp Greek or Roman art, or an example of it

adjective

made in or in the style of an earlier period

of or belonging to the distant past, esp of or in the style of ancient Greece or Rome

informal old-fashioned; out-of-date

archaic aged or venerable

(of paper) not calendered or coated; having a rough surface

verb

(tr) to give an antique appearance to

Word Origin for antique

C16: from Latin antīquus ancient, from ante before

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for antique

adj.

1530s, "aged, venerable," from Middle French antique "old" (14c.), from Latin antiquus (later anticus) "ancient, former, of olden times; old, long in existence, aged; venerable; old-fashioned," from PIE *anti in sense of "before" (see ante) + *okw- "appearance" (see eye (n.)). Originally pronounced in English like its parallel antic, but French pronunciation and spelling were adopted from c.1700.

"an old and collectible thing," 1771, from antique (adj.).

"to give an antique appearance to," 1896, from antique (adj.). Related: Antiqued; antiquing.