hinterland

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈhɪntə(ɹ)ˌlænd/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from German Hinterland (“land behind”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from German hinter (“behind”) + Land (“land, country”).^[2][3][4][5] It is related to hinder and land.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The district lying behind a coast or river shore; the back country (1890).^[3][4][5][7]

Semantic evolution

The word was first used in geography for the region inland from a port that is tied to it economically.^[4][6] It came to prominence in the language of European colonialism for an inland region behind a coast claimed by a state.^[4][6] The geographer George Chisholm had earlier translated the German word as hinderland.^[4] Figurative uses, such as the unexplored reaches of a subject or of someone's knowledge, are recorded from 1919.^[7][1]

Timeline

• 1881 – hinder-land as a translation.^[4]
• 1890 – hinterland.^[3][4][5][7]
• 1919 – figurative use.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The land lying directly inland from a coast.
2. A region remote from cities; the backcountry.
3. A region lying beyond the major centres of culture.
4. An inland area that supplies goods to a port.
5. Something vague or little known, such as the breadth of a person's knowledge outside their field.

Related words

• hinder
• land
• backcountry

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press