hinterland

See also: Hinterland

English

WOTD – 5 October 2015

Alternative forms

• hinderland (dated)

Etymology

Borrowed from German Hinterland, from hinter (“behind”) +‎ Land (“land”), cognate to English hinder (“back, rear”) + land. First used in English in 1888 by George Chisholm in his work Handbook of Commercial Geography originally as hinderland, but the current spelling (following German) became more popular. The term is characteristic of a thalassocratic analysis of space (from the point of view of a nation, such as 19th-century Britain, with maritime supremacy).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɪntə(ɹ)ˌlænd/, /-lənd/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Noun

hinterland (countable and uncountable, plural hinterlands)

1. The land immediately next to, and inland from, a coast.
   • 1961 August, “New traffic flows in South Wales”, in Trains Illustrated, page 492:

     In West Wales it has never been possible until recently to exploit the magnificent natural harbour of Milford Haven, for there was no industrial hinterland.

2. The rural territory surrounding an urban area, especially a port.
3. A remote or undeveloped area, a backwater.
   • 2021 February 9, Christina Newland, “Is Tom Hanks part of a dying breed of genuine movie stars?”, in BBC‎^[1]:

     In the film, Hanks is a veteran traversing the Texas hinterlands during the Reconstruction period when he stumbles upon a lost young white girl (Helena Zengel) who only speaks Kiowa, and is forced to undergo a dangerous journey to bring the orphan to her family.

4. (figuratively) That which is unknown or unexplored about someone.
5. (figuratively) Anything vague or ill-defined, especially something that is ill understood.
   • abstract of 2007, Lesley Jeffries, Textual Construction of the Female Body:

     This approach utilizes concepts such as naming, describing, contrasting and equating to access the hinterland between structure and meaning, and to map out the subtle ways in which texts can naturalise the ideology of the perfect female form.

Synonyms

• See: Thesaurus:remote place
• (the) sticks

Translations

land immediately next to a coast

• Catalan: rerepaís (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 內地／内地 (zh) (nèidì)

• Dutch: achterland (nl) n, binnenland (nl) n
• Estonian: sisemaa
• Finnish: sisämaa (fi)
• French: arrière-pays (fr) n
• German: Binnenland (de); Hinterland (de) n; Inland (de) n
• Greek: ενδοχώρα (el) f (endochóra)
• Irish: cúlchríoch f, cúltír f
• Italian: retroterra (it) f
• Macedonian: задгр́бнина f (zadgŕbnina)
• Russian: районы вглубь от прибрежной полосы (rajony vglubʹ ot pribrežnoj polosy)
• Serbo-Croatian: zaleđe (sh) n
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: nutśikowny kraj m

• Sranan Tongo: tapusei
• Swedish: inland (sv) n
• Welsh: cefnwlad f

rural territory surrounding urban area

• Catalan: rerepaís (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 郊區／郊区 (zh) (jiāoqū)

• Dutch: platteland (nl) n, hinterland (nl) n, achterland (nl) n
• Estonian: tagamaa
• Finnish: talousalue, vaikutusalue, syrjäseutu (fi)
• French: arrière-pays (fr) n
• German: Umland (de) n; Hinterland (de) n
• Italian: hinterland (it)
• Macedonian: предгра́дие n (predgrádie)
• Russian: пригород (ru) (prigorod)
• Serbo-Croatian: please add this translation if you can

remote or undeveloped area

• Catalan: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: (remote area) 偏遠地區／偏远地区 (piānyuǎn dìqū), (underdeveloped area) 落後地區／落后地区 (luòhòu dìqū)

• Dutch: hinterland (nl) n, achterland (nl) n
• Estonian: ääremaa
• Finnish: takamaa (fi), peräkylä (fi)
• French: arrière-pays (fr) n
• German: Provinz (de) f; plattes Land n
• Macedonian: пусте́лија f (pustélija), задгр́бнина f (zadgŕbnina)
• Russian: захолу́стье (ru) n (zaxolústʹje), глуби́нка (ru) f (glubínka), глушь (ru) f (glušʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: please add this translation if you can
• Swedish: avkrok (sv) c

See also

• foreland

References

• “hinterland”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Dutch

Etymology

From German Hinterland.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɦɪntərlɑnt/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

hinterland n (plural hinterlanden, diminutive hinterlandje n)

1. hinterland (rural territory, backwater)

Synonyms

• achterland

French

Etymology

Borrowed from German Hinterland.

Pronunciation

• ^{(aspirated or mute h)} IPA^(key): /in.tɛʁ.lɑ̃d/

Noun

hinterland m (plural hinterlands)

1. hinterland

Further reading

• “hinterland”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from German Hinterland.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈin.ter.land/
• Rhymes: -interland
• Hyphenation: hìn‧ter‧land

Noun

hinterland m (invariable)

1. hinterland, interior

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from German Hinterland.

Noun

hinterland n (plural hinterlanduri)

1. hinterland

Declension

Declension of hinterland

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) hinterland	hinterlandul	(niște) hinterlanduri	hinterlandurile
genitive/dative	(unui) hinterland	hinterlandului	(unor) hinterlanduri	hinterlandurilor
vocative	hinterlandule		hinterlandurilor