Background

How to spell background

10 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce background

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does background mean?

1. nounThe part of a scene, picture, or view that lies behind the main subject.
2. nounA person's experience, training, education, or family circumstances.

Background in a sentence

• The photographer blurred the background so the model stood out.

• His background in accounting made him ideal for the finance role.

• Soft music played in the background while the guests arrived.

• The employer ran a background check before the offer.

Where does background come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a transparent English compound, joining the native words 'back' and 'ground', both of which descend from Old English. 'Back' comes from the Old English 'baec', meaning the rear part of the body or anything's hinder side, while 'ground' comes from the Old English 'grund', meaning the bottom, foundation, or surface of the earth. The combined form first appears in English in the seventeenth century, originally as a stage and painting term for the part of a scene set furthest from the viewer, behind the main figures. From that visual sense it broadened in the nineteenth century to mean the circumstances or history lying behind a person or situation. Because both halves are ordinary Germanic words, the spelling is regular, but writers sometimes hesitate over whether it is one word, two words, or hyphenated; the modern standard is the single solid form.

How the word is built

• back (rear, behind)
• ground (surface, base)