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
backgroundnoun
a person's social heritage: previous experience or training
"he is a lawyer with a sports background"
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"
background, background knowledgenoun
information that is essential to understanding a situation or problem
"the embassy filled him in on the background of the incident"
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"
backgroundnoun
relatively unimportant or inconspicuous accompanying situation
"when the rain came he could hear the sound of thunder in the background"
setting, background, scopenoun
the state of the environment in which a situation exists
"you can't do that in a university setting"
background, desktop, screen backgroundnoun
(computer science) the area of the screen in graphical user interfaces against which icons and windows appear
backdrop, background, backclothverb
scenery hung at back of stage
background, play down, downplayverb
understate the importance or quality of
"he played down his royal ancestry"
Wiktionary
backgroundnoun
One's social heritage; what one did in the past/previously.
The lawyer had a background in computer science.
backgroundnoun
A part of the picture that depicts scenery to the rear or behind the main subject; context.
backgroundnoun
Information relevant to the current situation about past events; history.
backgroundnoun
A less important feature of scenery (as opposed to foreground.)
backgroundnoun
The image or color, over which a computer's desktop items are show (e.g. icons or application windows).
backgroundnoun
Activity on a computer that is not normally visible to the user
The antivirus program is running in the background.
backgroundverb
To put in a position that is not prominent
ChatGPT
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
Backgroundnoun
ground in the rear or behind, or in the distance, as opposed to the foreground, or the ground in front
Backgroundnoun
the space which is behind and subordinate to a portrait or group of figures
Backgroundnoun
anything behind, serving as a foil; as, the statue had a background of red hangings
Backgroundnoun
a place in obscurity or retirement, or out of sight
The New Hacker's Dictionary
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.
Matched Categories
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'background' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1709
Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'background' in Written Corpus Frequency: #1685
Nouns Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'background' in Nouns Frequency: #678
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of background in Chaldean Numerology is: 8
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of background in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6
Examples of background in a Sentence
New Horizons provided us with a vantage point to measure the cosmic optical background better than anyone has been able to do it.
She's not my candidate for a number of reasons, i think her criminal background gives me more pause in terms of her history as a prosecutor in California, her record with marijuana and charges like that.
What we hope to get it at is such a low level that even though it isn't completely eliminated, it doesn't have a major impact on public health or on the way we run our lives, so if we get more people vaccinated globally and more people vaccinated now, hopefully within a reasonable period of time, we will get to that point where it might occasionally be up and down in the background, but it won't dominate us the way it's doing right now.
For Laura Bush, education, for Mrs. Obama, it started out with concern about her own children. So it's something that they care about ... from that, you utilize the convening authority that you have as first lady to pull the best experts together. Having the platform of the White House brings attention to the issue. Once you use your own background and interest as a platform to build your initiatives, then you can roll out the things you feel most passionately about.
Tim is a leader not just in South Carolina but around the country. He embodies the American Dream. He embodies so much of what our party needs to be about, he doesn't come from a privileged background and neither do I and we are both conservatives because we know that conservatism is the right way forward -- especially for people who are trying to make it.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
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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