What does background mean?

Definitions for background
ˈbækˌgraʊndback·ground

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word background.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. backgroundnoun

    a person's social heritage: previous experience or training

    "he is a lawyer with a sports background"

  2. background, groundnoun

    the part of a scene (or picture) that lies behind objects in the foreground

    "he posed her against a background of rolling hills"

  3. background, background knowledgenoun

    information that is essential to understanding a situation or problem

    "the embassy filled him in on the background of the incident"

  4. background, background signalnoun

    extraneous signals that can be confused with the phenomenon to be observed or measured

    "they got a bad connection and could hardly hear one another over the background signals"

  5. backgroundnoun

    relatively unimportant or inconspicuous accompanying situation

    "when the rain came he could hear the sound of thunder in the background"

  6. setting, background, scopenoun

    the state of the environment in which a situation exists

    "you can't do that in a university setting"

  7. background, desktop, screen backgroundnoun

    (computer science) the area of the screen in graphical user interfaces against which icons and windows appear

  8. backdrop, background, backclothverb

    scenery hung at back of stage

  9. background, play down, downplayverb

    understate the importance or quality of

    "he played down his royal ancestry"

Wiktionary

  1. backgroundnoun

    One's social heritage; what one did in the past/previously.

    The lawyer had a background in computer science.

  2. backgroundnoun

    A part of the picture that depicts scenery to the rear or behind the main subject; context.

  3. backgroundnoun

    Information relevant to the current situation about past events; history.

  4. backgroundnoun

    A less important feature of scenery (as opposed to foreground.)

  5. backgroundnoun

    The image or color, over which a computer's desktop items are show (e.g. icons or application windows).

  6. backgroundnoun

    Activity on a computer that is not normally visible to the user

    The antivirus program is running in the background.

  7. backgroundverb

    To put in a position that is not prominent

ChatGPT

  1. background

    Background refers to the conditions or circumstances that form the setting or environment for an event, person, or situation. It can also refer to the part of an image or scene behind the main objects or people in view. In other contexts, background can describe a person's previous experiences, education, or training.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Backgroundnoun

    ground in the rear or behind, or in the distance, as opposed to the foreground, or the ground in front

  2. Backgroundnoun

    the space which is behind and subordinate to a portrait or group of figures

  3. Backgroundnoun

    anything behind, serving as a foil; as, the statue had a background of red hangings

  4. Backgroundnoun

    a place in obscurity or retirement, or out of sight

The New Hacker's Dictionary

  1. background

    [common] To do a task in background is to do it whenever foreground matters are not claiming your undivided attention, and to background something means to relegate it to a lower priority. “For now, we'll just print a list of nodes and links; I'm working on the graph-printing problem in background.” Note that this implies ongoing activity but at a reduced level or in spare time, in contrast to mainstream ‘back burner’ (which connotes benign neglect until some future resumption of activity). Some people prefer to use the term for processing that they have queued up for their unconscious minds (a tack that one can often fruitfully take upon encountering an obstacle in creative work). Compare amp off, slopsucker.Technically, a task running in background is detached from the terminal where it was started (and often running at a lower priority); oppose foreground. Nowadays this term is primarily associated with Unix, but it appears to have been first used in this sense on OS/360.

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'background' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1709

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'background' in Written Corpus Frequency: #1685

  3. Nouns Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'background' in Nouns Frequency: #678

How to pronounce background?

How to say background in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of background in Chaldean Numerology is: 8

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of background in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of background in a Sentence

  1. Jonas Oransky:

    It’s not that all sellers are dangerous or devious, but buyers who know that they can skip the background check can look for an unlicensed seller.

  2. Amit Ray:

    Om is not just a sound or vibration. It is not just a symbol... If you think of Om only as a sound, a technique or a symbol of the Divine, you will miss it altogether. ….. Om is the mysterious cosmic energy that is the substratum of all the things and all the beings of the entire universe. It is an eternal song of the Divine. It is continuously resounding in silence on the background of everything that exists.

  3. Cameron Shore:

    Just being able to move around and pick out a particular sound or a particular thing to watch, I find it to be more focusing than anything else, i actually have a lot of difficulty calming down in New York City, with all the background noise and just everything that's going on. It's a nice time to come out and spend an hour or two kind of in silence.

  4. David Coleman:

    We listened to thoughtful criticism and made Landscape better and more transparent, landscape provides admissions officers more consistent background information so they can fairly consider every student, no matter where they live and learn.

  5. Becky George:

    The vast majority of Americans support background checks on gun sales, no matter their race, political affiliation, state, or gun ownership status, there are few issues in America that are more unifying than gun safety and it's time our leaders in the Senate listen to the people and act.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

background#1#1583#10000

Translations for background

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

  • خلفيةArabic
  • заден план, фонBulgarian
  • fons, antecedents, bagatgeCatalan, Valencian
  • pozadíCzech
  • baggrundDanish
  • Schreibtischhintergrund, HintergrundGerman
  • segundo plano, fondo, antecedente, formaciónSpanish
  • پس‌زمینه, پس زمینهPersian
  • tausta, taustakuva, taustatieto, historia, taustaväriFinnish
  • historique, arrière-plan, tâche de fond, en arrière-plan, fond, fond d'écran, passé, milieu, antécédents, histoireFrench
  • cúlraIrish
  • cùl-fhiosrachadhScottish Gaelic
  • רקעHebrew
  • háttérHungarian
  • խորք, նախագիտելիքArmenian
  • antefatto, secondo piano, storia, bagaglio culturale, istruzione, sfondo, sottofondo, retaggio, legato, formazione, in sordinaItalian
  • 背景, バックグラウンドJapanese
  • 예비지식, 배경, 백그라운드, 바탕색Korean
  • backgroundLatin
  • drugi plan, doświadczenie, tapeta, kontekst, dalszy plan, tłoPolish
  • instrução, experiência, histórico, segundo plano, antecedente, plano de fundo, formação, fundoPortuguese
  • образование, предпосылка, происхождение, задний план, подготовка, подоплёка, предыстория, контекст, бэкграунд, фон, фоновый режимRussian
  • pretpovijest, kontekstSerbo-Croatian
  • skrivbordsbakgrund, bakgrund, bakgrundsbildSwedish
  • geçmişTurkish
  • фонUkrainian
  • پس منظر کےUrdu
  • cơ sở, bối cảnh, hình nền, nềnVietnamese
  • erî-planWalloon

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"background." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/background>.

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