background

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbæk.gɹaʊnd/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

background (plural backgrounds)

1. One's social heritage; what one did in the past/previously.

   The lawyer had a background in computer science.

2. A part of the picture that depicts scenery to the rear or behind the main subject; context.
   • 2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 206-7: 

     Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close […] above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them. Many insects probably use this strategy, which is a close analogy to crypsis in the visible world—camouflage and other methods for blending into one’s visual background.

3. Information relevant to the current situation about past events; history.
4. A less important feature of scenery (as opposed to foreground).

   There was tons of noise in the background.

   The photographer let us pick a background for the portrait.

5. (computing) The image or color, over which a computer's desktop items are shown (e.g. icons or application windows).
6. (computing) Activity on a computer that is not normally visible to the user.

   The antivirus program is running in the background.

Derived terms

• on background
• background fodder

Translations

social heritage

• Catalan: bagatge m
• Finnish: tausta (fi)
• French: milieu (fr) m, histoire (fr) f, passé (fr) m
• German: Hintergrund (de) m
• Hebrew: רקע (reqa) m
• Hungarian: háttér (hu)
• Irish: cúlra m
• Italian: formazione (it) f, istruzione (it) m

• Polish: doświadczenie (pl)
• Portuguese: instrução (pt) f, formação (pt) f, experiência (pt) f
• Russian: (origin) происхождение (ru) n (proisxoždénije), (education) образование (ru) n (obrazovánije), (training) подготовка (ru) f (podgotóvka), бэкграунд (ru) m (bekgráund)
• Spanish: formación (es) f
• Vietnamese: cơ sở (vi), nền (vi)

part of picture

• Bulgarian: фон (fon), заден план (zaden plan)
• Catalan: fons m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 背景 (zh) (bèijǐng)

• Czech: pozadí
• Finnish: tausta (fi)
• French: arrière-plan (fr) m
• German: Hintergrund (de) m
• Hebrew: רקע (reqa) m
• Hungarian: háttér (hu)

• Italian: sfondo (it) m
• Japanese: 背景 (ja) (はいけい, haikei)
• Korean: 배경 (ko) (baegyeong)
• Polish: tło (pl) n
• Portuguese: fundo (pt) m, plano de fundo
• Russian: фон (ru) (fón), задний план m (zádnij plan), (colloquial) бэкграунд (ru) m (békgraund, bekgráund)
• Spanish: fondo (es) m
• Swedish: bakgrund (sv) c
• Vietnamese: nền (vi)

relevant information

• Armenian: նախագիտելիք (naxagitelikʿ)
• Catalan: antecedents m pl
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 背景 (zh) (bèijǐng)

• Czech: pozadí
• Finnish: taustatieto, historia (fi)
• French: antécédents (fr) m pl, historique (fr) m
• German: Hintergrund (de) m
• Hebrew: רקע (reqa) m
• Italian: storia (it) f, antefatto m
• Japanese: 背景 (ja) (はいけい, haikei)

• Korean: 예비지식 (ko) (yebijisik)
• Polish: kontekst (pl) m
• Portuguese: antecedente (pt) m, histórico (pt) m
• Russian: контекст (ru) (kontékst), предпосылка (ru) f (predposýlka), подоплёка (ru) f (podopljóka), предыстория (ru) f (predystórija), бэкграунд (ru) m (bekgráund)
• Scottish Gaelic: cùl-fhiosrachadh m
• Serbo-Croatian: kontekst, pretpovijest
• Spanish: antecedente (es) m
• Vietnamese: bối cảnh

less important feature

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 背景 (zh) (bèijǐng)

• Finnish: tausta (fi)
• French: fond (fr) m
• German: Hintergrund (de) m
• Hungarian: háttér (hu)
• Italian: secondo piano m
• Japanese: 背景 (ja) (はいけい, haikei)

• Korean: 배경 (ko) (baegyeong)
• Polish: drugi plan, dalszy plan
• Portuguese: segundo plano m
• Russian: фон (ru) (fón), задний план m (zádnij plan), бэкграунд (ru) m (bekgráund)
• Spanish: segundo plano m
• Vietnamese: nền (vi)

computer background

• Armenian: խորք (xorkʿ)
• Finnish: taustaväri, tausta (fi), taustakuva
• French: fond d'écran (fr) m
• German: Schreibtischhintergrund m
• Hungarian: háttér (hu)
• Italian: sfondo (it) m
• Japanese: バックグラウンド (bakkuguraundo)

• Korean: 바탕색 (ko) (batangsaek)
• Persian: پس‌زمینه (pas-zamine)
• Polish: tapeta (pl) f
• Portuguese: plano de fundo m
• Russian: фон (ru) m (fon), бэкграунд (ru) m (bekgráund)
• Spanish: fondo (es) m
• Vietnamese: hình nền

activity not visible to the user

• Bulgarian: заден план (zaden plan)
• Finnish: tausta (fi)
• French: tâche de fond f, en arrière-plan
• Hungarian: háttér (hu)
• Japanese: バックグラウンド (bakkuguraundo)
• Korean: 백그라운드 (baekgeuraundeu)

• Persian: پس‌زمینه (pas-zamine)
• Polish: tło (pl) n
• Portuguese: segundo plano m
• Russian: фоновый режим m (fónovyj režím)
• Spanish: segundo plano m
• Vietnamese: nền (vi)

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: agtergrond

Verb

background (third-person singular simple present backgrounds, present participle backgrounding, simple past and past participle backgrounded)

1. To put in a position that is not prominent