Origin: 1350–1400; Middle English aunteler < Middle French antoillier < Vulgar Latin *anteoculārem (rāmum), accusative singular of *anteoculāris (rāmus) anteocular (branch of a stag's horn). See ante-, ocular
one of a pair of bony outgrowths on the heads of male deer and some related species of either sex. The antlers are shed each year and those of some species grow more branches as the animal ages
[C14: from Old French antoillier, from Vulgar Latin anteoculare (unattested) (something) in front of the eye]
late 14c., from Anglo-Fr. auntiler, from O.Fr. antoillier (Mod.Fr. andouiller) "antler," perhaps from Gallo-Romance cornu *antoculare "horn in front of the eyes," from L. ante "before" (see ante) + ocularis "of the eyes." Doubted by some, because no similar word exists in any