The Spanish word 'antes' (meaning 'before') comes from the Latin preposition 'ante' (meaning 'before' or 'in front of') combined with the Spanish adverbial suffix '-s'. This suffix '-s' is commonly added to create adverbs in Spanish, transforming the Latin preposition into a Spanish temporal adverb.

Several common Spanish words share this Latin root 'ante-', including 'anterior' (previous, anterior), 'adelante' (forward, ahead), and 'delante' (in front of). All these words maintain the core meaning of 'before' or 'in front' from their Latin ancestor.

English has borrowed many words containing the Latin 'ante-' prefix, such as 'anterior', 'antecedent', and 'anticipate'. The word 'ante' itself is used in English, particularly in poker to mean 'a bet made before play begins' - a meaning that evolved from the concept of 'before'. These English words preserve the original Latin sense of 'before' or 'in front of'.