CS Knowledge Base

• IPA^(key): /ˈbæk.(ɡ)ɹaʊnd/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

From back +‎ ground. Compare backstory.

• back ground (obsolete)

background (not comparable)

1. Less important or less noticeable in a scene or system.

   background noise

   The antivirus program runs on a background thread.

• conspicuous, foreground, forestanding, primary, prominent

background (countable and uncountable, plural backgrounds)

1. One's social heritage, or previous life; what one did in the past.

   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”, in American Scientist‎^[1], volume 101, number 3, archived from the original on 6 March 2016, pages 206–207:

     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. (film) An extra who appears in the background, with no speaking role.
4. Information relevant to the current situation about past events; history.

   Synonym: canvas

5. 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.

7. (computing) The image or color over which a computer's desktop items are shown (e.g. icons or application windows).
8. (computing) A type of activity on a computer that is not normally visible to the user.

   The antivirus program is running in the background.

9. (physics) Ellipsis of background radiation.

   low-background

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

1. (transitive) To place in the background.
   • 1852, Herman Melville, Pierre; or The Ambiguities:

     Ha! I see Venus’ transit now;—lo! a new planet there;—and behind all, an infinite starry nebulousness, as if thy being were backgrounded by some spangled vail of mystery.

2. (transitive, figurative) To put in a position that is not prominent.

   Synonym: downplay

   • 2006, Paul Baker, Using Corpora in Discourse Analysis, page 163:

     One aspect of the story that appears interesting is that the alleged rapist and victim are only referred to by name together in the same sentence once. In all the other sentences, one receives more focus, while the other is backgrounded.

3. (journalism) To gather and provide background information (on).
4. (transitive) To increase the weight and immunity of (a calf) by feeding with forage and grains, as an intermediate stage in cattle production, between weaning and placement in a feedlot.

background

1. simple past and past participle of backgrind

Unadapted borrowing from English background.

• IPA^(key): /beɡˈɡrawnd/
• Rhymes: -awnd

background m (invariable)

1. cultural background (of a person)
   • 1995, Domenico Starnone et al., La scuola:

     Vivaldi: Insomma, noi dobbiamo partire dal background di questo ragazzo.
     Mortillaro: Background, ah, come lo odio l'inglese.

     In short, we have to start from the background of this boy.
     Background, ah, how I hate English.

Unadapted borrowing from English background.

background n (plural backgrounduri)

1. background

   Synonyms: fundal, fond

background m (plural backgrounds)

1. background