In 1511, leaders in Mecca believed coffee stimulated radical thinking and outlawed the drink. In 1524, the leaders overturned that order, and people could drink coffee again.
BACKGROUND
backdrop, background, backcloth
(noun) scenery hung at back of stage
background, desktop, screen background
(noun) (computer science) the area of the screen in graphical user interfaces against which icons and windows appear
background
(noun) a person’s social heritage: previous experience or training; “he is a lawyer with a sports background”
background, background knowledge
(noun) information that is essential to understanding a situation or problem; “the embassy filled him in on the background of the incident”
background, ground
(noun) the part of a scene (or picture) that lies behind objects in the foreground; “he posed her against a background of rolling hills”
background
(noun) relatively unimportant or inconspicuous accompanying situation; “when the rain came he could hear the sound of thunder in the background”
background, background signal
(noun) extraneous signals that can be confused with the phenomenon to be observed or measured; “they got a bad connection and could hardly hear one another over the background signals”
setting, background, scope
(noun) the state of the environment in which a situation exists; “you can’t do that in a university setting”
background, play down, downplay
(verb) understate the importance or quality of; “he played down his royal ancestry”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Adjective
background (not comparable)
Less important or less noticeable in a scene or system.
Antonyms
• conspicuous, foreground, forestanding, primary, prominent
Noun
background (countable and uncountable, plural backgrounds)
One's social heritage, or previous life; what one did in the past.
A part of the picture that depicts scenery to the rear or behind the main subject; context.
Information relevant to the current situation about past events; history.
A less important feature of scenery (as opposed to foreground).
(computing) The image or color over which a computer's desktop items are shown (e.g. icons or application windows).
(computing) A type of activity on a computer that is not normally visible to the user.
Verb
background (third-person singular simple present backgrounds, present participle backgrounding, simple past and past participle backgrounded)
To put in a position that is not prominent.
(journalism) To gather and provide background information (on).
Source: Wiktionary
Back"ground`, n. Etym: [Back, a. + ground.]
1. Ground in the rear or behind, or in the distance, as opposed to the foreground, or the ground in front.
2. (Paint.)
Definition: The space which is behind and subordinate to a portrait or group of figures.
Note: The distance in a picture is usually divided into foreground, middle distance, and background. Fairholt.
3. Anything behind, serving as a foil; as, the statue had a background of red hangings.
4. A place in obscurity or retirement, or out of sight. I fancy there was a background of grinding and waiting before Miss Torry could produce this highly finished . . . performance. Mrs. Alexander. A husband somewhere in the background. Thackeray.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
3 April 2025
WHOLE
(noun) an assemblage of parts that is regarded as a single entity; “how big is that part compared to the whole?”; “the team is a unit”
Coffee Trivia
