Backdrop

How to spell backdrop

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce backdrop

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does backdrop mean?

1. nounA painted cloth hung at the back of a stage or set to provide scenery.
2. nounThe general setting or circumstances against which something happens.

Backdrop in a sentence

• The stage crew lowered a painted backdrop showing a city skyline.

• The merger was announced against a backdrop of falling share prices.

• The photographer pinned a plain white backdrop behind the model.

• Rising rents formed the backdrop to the council's housing debate.

Where does backdrop come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a transparent English compound, joining the native Old English words 'back' (the rear part) and 'drop'. It comes from the world of the theatre, where 'drop' had long described a painted cloth that was lowered, or 'dropped', from the flies above the stage to form a scenic backing behind the actors. By the late nineteenth century 'backdrop' had settled as the name for that hanging cloth at the rear of the set. From there the word moved easily into everyday figurative use, meaning the general setting or circumstances against which an event takes place. Because both halves are plain English words spelled exactly as you would expect, the only trap is remembering it is written as one solid word rather than two.

How the word is built

• back (rear, behind)
• drop (a painted curtain that hangs or drops at the rear of a stage)