foreground

Etymology

It is formed from English fore- + ground.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The Oxford dictionaries add that it was modelled on Dutch voorgrond,^[7][8] and the Shorter Oxford compares German Vordergrund;^[8] Etymonline and Klein also compare the Dutch word.^[3][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The part of a view nearest the observer, especially as shown in a picture: 1695, in Dryden's translation of Dufresnoy's The Art of Painting.^{[2][10][3][5]} Klein and Etymonline name Dryden as the first to use it.^[9][3]

Semantic evolution

It began as a term of painting, in a translation of a treatise on the art;^[2][10] Johnson (1755) defined it as the part of a picture that seems to lie in front of the figures.^[11] The figurative sense, the most prominent position, followed in 1817, in Bentham;^[2] Etymonline dates it to 1816.^[3] The rare sense "the ground in front of an object" is recorded from 1858.^[2] Twain used the verb, to place in the foreground, in 1892,^[2][5] and Merriam-Webster records its use for giving prominence or emphasis to something, as to a point in a poem.^[5] In computing, the foreground is the level of processing that responds at once to a high-priority task, as opposed to the background.^[5]

Timeline

• 1695 – the part of a view or picture nearest the observer.^[2][10][5]
• 1817 – figurative, the most prominent position.^[2] Etymonline dates it to 1816.^[3]
• 1827 – attributive use.^[2]
• 1858 – the ground in front of an object (rare).^[2]
• 1892 – verb, to place in the foreground.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The part of a scene or picture that is, or appears to be, nearest to the viewer: Two cows stand in the foreground of the landscape.^[5][2]
2. The most prominent or important position; the forefront.^[5][2]
3. (computing) A level of processing at which the computer responds immediately to input for a high-priority task.^[5]
4. (rare) The ground directly in front of an object.^[2]

Verb

1. To place in the foreground; to give prominence or emphasis to: The new edition foregrounds the letters of the poet's sister.^[5][2]

Word family

• foregrounder

Related words

• background

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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.