background

Etymology

It is formed from English back + ground,^[2][3][4][5] with back as an adjective.^[2][3][4] The verb is a conversion of the noun.^[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The ground or surface lying behind the chief objects in view, which formerly included the rear part of a theatre stage: 1672, in Wycherley.^[2][6] Etymonline says that the original use was theatrical,^[3] and Dictionary.com dates the word to 1665–75.^[5]

Semantic evolution

From the stage the word passed to painting by 1752, for the part of a picture that seems furthest from the viewer.^[3][2] By 1781, in Sheridan's The Critic, in the background could mean in a less prominent place, unnoticed or in retirement.^[2] Etymonline dates the figurative sense to 1854 and the OED to 1856:^[3][2] the surrounding circumstances against which something is understood.^[4] The sense of a person's education, experience and social surroundings appears only in the 20th century, in 1913, in J. Webster's Daddy-Long-Legs.^[2][4] Further technical senses followed: unwanted signals (1927), music accompanying a broadcast or film (1928), and natural radiation (1930).^[2] In computing it came to mean the environment of processes that run without the user's direct involvement, and a picture displayed behind icons and windows.^[7][8][6] The verb has meant to form a background to something since 1768, to make something inconspicuous since 1891, and to give someone the facts behind a situation since 1961.^[2]

Timeline

• 1672 – the ground or surface behind the chief objects, including the rear of a stage.^[2][6]
• 1752 – the part of a picture furthest from the viewer.^[2][3]
• 1768 – verb, to form a background to.^[2][6]
• 1781 – a less prominent position, obscurity.^[2]
• 1856 – figurative, surrounding circumstances.^[2] Etymonline dates this sense to 1854.^[3]
• 1891 – verb, to place in the background, to make inconspicuous.^[2]
• 1896 – adjective, keeping out of notice, retiring (colloquial).^[2]
• 1913 – a person's education, experience and social surroundings.^[2]
• 1927 – unwanted signals in the reception or recording of sound.^[2]
• 1928 – music or sound effects accompanying a broadcast, film or other activity.^[2]
• 1930 – radiation from cosmic rays and other natural sources.^[2]
• 1961 – verb, to inform someone of the causes and history of a situation.^[2]
• 1964 – on background, of information given to a journalist, especially by a government official.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The part of a scene or view that lies behind the main objects: The farmhouse stood with the mountains in the background.^[7][6][8]
2. The part of a picture that seems most distant and sets off the main figures.^[7][6][8]
3. The surface or colour against which a design or pattern is seen: green letters on a white background.^[7][6][8]
4. An image displayed on a computer screen behind the icons and windows.^[6]
5. A position out of notice or less prominent than others: The treasurer preferred to stay in the background.^[7][6][8]
6. The circumstances and events that lie behind and help explain something.^[7][8][4]
7. A person's education, experience and social surroundings: She has a background in farming.^[7][8][2]
8. Subdued music or sound accompanying a film, broadcast or other activity.^[7][2]
9. Unwanted sound or signals that interfere with a recording or reception.^[7][8][2]
10. (physics) Low-level natural radiation.^[7][8][2]
11. (computing) The environment in which programs run without direct input from the user.^[7][8]

Verb

1. To form a background to something.^[6][8][2]
2. To give less attention or emphasis to something, or to make it inconspicuous.^[6][2]
3. To provide someone or something with background facts.^[6][8][2]

Word family

• backgrounder
• background music
• background radiation
• cosmic background radiation
• cosmic microwave background

Related words

• back
• ground

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press