aback

English

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /əˈbæk/, SAMPA: /@"b{k/
• Rhymes: -æk

Etymology 1

Middle English abak, from Old English on bæc "at, on, or toward the back"; formed as a- + back

Adverb

aback (not comparable)

1. (rare) Towards the back or rear; backwards; away.

   Therewith aback she started. - Geoffrey Chaucer

2. Behind; in the rear.
3. (nautical) Backward against the mast; said of the sails when pressed by the wind from the "wrong" (forward) side.

   By setting the foresail aback and the headsail in the middle one can bring a fore-and-aft rigged sailing boat practically to a halt even in heavy wind.

Derived terms

• take aback

Translations

backwards

Bengali: পেছন দিকে (bn) Bulgarian: назад (bg), заднишком (bg) Czech: zpět (cs) Danish: bak (da) Dutch: achterwaarts (nl) Estonian: tagasi (et), tagaspidi (et), tagurpidi (et) Finnish: takaisin (fi), taaksepäin (fi) French: en arrière (fr) German: rückwärts (de) Greek: προς τα πίσω (el) (pros ta píso)

Hindi: पीछ॓ की ओर (hi) Italian: all'indietro (it) Japanese: 後方へ Norwegian: bakk (no) Persian: جاخوردن (fa), یکه خوردن (fa), غافلگیرشدن (fa) Polish: wstecz (pl), do tyłu (pl) Portuguese: atraz (pt), por detraz ás avessas (pt), pelo contrario (pt) Russian: назад (ru) Scottish Gaelic: air ais (gd) Slovak: naspäť (sk)

in the rear

Bulgarian: отзад (bg) Danish: bagi (da) Dutch: achteraan (nl) Esperanto: malantaŭen (eo) Finnish: takana (fi), perässä (fi) German: hinten (de)

Italian: dietro (it), di (it) dietro (it) Polish: z tyłu (pl) Russian: сзади (ru), позади (ru) Vietnamese: đằng sau (vi), lùi lại (vi), trở lại (vi) phía sau, về (vi) phía sau

said of sails pressed backward

Finnish: pakilla (fi) Greek: προς τα πίσω (el) (pros ta píso) Italian: a (it) collo (it)

Polish: bieg wsteczny (pl) Russian: против ветра (ru) (prótiv v'étra) Vietnamese: bị thổi ép vào cột buồm

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Afrikaans: agtar Albanian: prapa Azeri: geriyә Serbo-Croatian: unatrag Danish: baglæns Indonesian: mundur Korean: 거꾸로 Latvian: atpakaļ Lithuanian: atbulomis Norwegian: baklengs

Portuguese (Brazil): para trás, surpreendido, desconcertado, confuso, aturdido, inseguro Romanian: înapoi Serbo-Croatian: уназад 1. изненађен 2. назад 3. натраг Slovene: Nazaj Spanish: hacia atrás Swedish: bakåt, back: baxna, häpna Turkish: geriye, arkaya, arka tarafa Ukrainian: тому

Etymology 2

From abacus

Noun

aback (plural abacks)

1. (obsolete) An abacus.

Translations

abacus — see abacus