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Is It Foreground Or Background? When To Use Each One

Is It Foreground Or Background? When To Use Each One

The meaning of foreground and background is based on the context in which you use the words. As a noun, foreground represents the part of a scene closest to and in front of the viewer. In contrast, the background is exactly the opposite.

In comparison, the background is the scenery behind something. As a verb, foreground is the action to locate something in the front (physically or symbolically). But background is to put something in a position that is not notable. These will be used depending on the context.

Foreground

Origin Of The Word

When trying to locate where this word originated, we find different references. Some say that its use started in the 1690s, defined as “part of a landscape nearest the observer,” from adding the words fore- + ground (n).

Some others say it was first used in English by Dryden (“Art of Painting”); on the pattern of Dutch voorgrond. But its symbolic use started in 1816.

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Pronunciation

Pronunciation: /ˈfɔːɡraʊnd/

Different Meanings For Foreground

  • Social heritage
  • Relevant information
  • Computer background
  • Part of the picture
  • Less important feature
  • Activity not visible to the user

Noun: The Foreground

  • 1. The part of the view closest to the observer, especially in a photograph or picture.

Example: The complex garden portrayed in the foreground

  1. 1. The most critical or prominent situation or position.

Example: Issues that have taken the political foreground in recent months

Verb: [With Object]

  • Make an object the most important or prominent feature.

Example: Romantic relationships are idealized and foregrounded

Synonyms

scalesynonymantonym

  • Proximity
  • Front
  • Fore
  • Forefront
  • Forepart
  • Front line
  • Foremost part
  • Nearer view
  • Nearest part
  • Prominence
  • Closest part
  • Immediate prospect
  • Van
  • Vanguard
  • Head
  • Spearhead
  • Cutting edge
  • Leading position
  • Foremost position
  • Position of prominence
  • Immediate prospect
  • Nearness
  • Contiguity
  • Propinquity
  • Prominence
  • Nearer view
  • Spotlight
  • Play up
  • Highlight

Antonyms

  • Background
  • Distance
  • Perspective

Hypernyms

  • Bring
  • Aspect
  • Prospect
  • Panorama
  • Window
  • Vista
  • Set off
  • Scene
  • View

Terms Related To Foreground:

  • Pixmap
  • Stipple
  • Rectangle
  • Viewport

Other Sentence Examples

  • Lysa repainted the shapes in the foreground.
  • Carlos was in the foreground of the political issue.
  • They want this issue to be in the foreground.
  • General arguments foregrounded a safety issue.
  • They wish this issue to be in the foreground.
  • When painting your landscape, it’s best to give preference to the foreground.
  • The camera crew took the foreground shot over a green screen. It was deleted later in the editing room and then transformed into the background shot.
  • In the right foreground, a mother has to take care of her crying baby.
  • Set the grid squares to the foreground color.
  • Taylor Lautner, the actor, portraying werewolf Jacob Black in Twilight, sits in the foreground with the rest of the pack standing behind him.
  • Cinderella stands in the foreground wearing the beautiful ball gown her fairy godmother made for her.
  • They mounted the height finder in the foreground with the predictor to the back part of it.
  • In several of these art pieces, a sequence of different shapes occupies the foreground.
  • The concept of linear karma rules the ethics foreground.
  • There is a foreground filled with a lot more figures; cats in the center and made smaller.
  • Set the foreground with a color that is a little lighter than the lightest shade in your wood.

Background

Origin Of The Word

People believe its origin comes from the 1670s, from combining the words back (adj.) + ground (n.). Its original meaning was theatrical, but later, in 1752, it applied to arts and painting (as the part of an image that represents what is furthest from the viewer). But the symbolic meaning was first certified in 1854.

Pronunciation

womanspeaking

Pronunciation: \ˈbak-ˌ(g)rau̇nd\

Different Meanings

Noun

  • Part of a scene, picture, or design creates a setting for the main object or appears farther from the spectator.
    • Example: The building stands against the background of an old house
  • A less important function or position.
    • Example: After that day, she stayed in the background
  • (Computing) It refers to processes or tasks that do not require input from the user.
    • Example: Programs can run in the background
  • Undesired signals, like noise when recording or receiving a piece of sound.
    • Example: There was a background noise that didn’t go away, and they were trying to figure out how to correct that.
  • The situation or circumstances that prevail at a particular event or time.
    • Example: The social, economic, and political background
  • Someone’s experience, education, and social circumstances.
    • Example: Grace has a background in politics
  • The conditions that create the setting to experience something
    • Example: Please, set the party in a background of classic luxuriance.
  • The events or circumstances that go before development or phenomenon
    • Example: The social background of the Middle East War
  • Information that is crucial to understand a situation or a problem
    • Example: Background information
  • A computer level of processing. Here the processor uses not required time for the main task to work on another job.
  • The part of a picture that lies behind objects in the foreground
    • Example: Diana posed him against a background of roses
  • The relatively inconspicuous or unimportant following situation
    • Example: When the storm came, she could hear the sound of raindrops in the background
  • Signals that are beside the point and can be confused with the measured or observed occurrence
    • Example: We experienced bad reception and could barely hear each other with all the background noise
  • The environment status in which a situation exists
    • Example: She is not allowed to that in a college setting

Verb: [With Object]

  • 1. To form a background.
  • 2. To provide background.

Example: The school backgrounded teachers

Synonyms

  • Surrounding
  • Back
  • History
  • Education
  • Backdrop
  • Credentials
  • Training
  • Upbringing
  • Preparation
  • Unobtrusive
  • Unnoticed
  • Behind the scenes
  • Backstage
  • Out of the spotlight
  • Inconspicuous
  • Out of the public eye
  • Out of the limelight

Antonyms

  • Foreground
  • Ignorance
  • Future

Hypernyms

  • Accent
  • Disturbance
  • Panorama
  • Accentuate
  • Emphasize
  • Prospect
  • Accompaniment
  • Environment
  • Punctuate
  • Scene
  • Aspect
  • Heritage
  • Scenery
  • Attendant
  • Information
  • Screen
  • Co-occurrence
  • Stress
  • Vista
  • View
  • Concomitant
  • View

Hyponyms

  • Background noise
  • Showcase
  • Background radiation
  • Soft-pedal
  • Canvas
  • Show window
  • Wave off
  • Ground noise

Terms Related To Background

  • Representation
  • Perspective
  • Knowledge
  • Setting
  • Contextual
  • Lineage
  • Heredity
  • Inconspicuous
  • Backgrounder

Other Sentence Examples

  • Display the doll figures against a gold background
  • We can see the mall in the background
  • A mix of people from different backgrounds
  • Her medical background is extraordinary
  • The country’s religious background
  • They want this inconvenience to be in the foreground.
  • She saved it as the background on the iPad.
  • In the background were the beautiful layered mountains of the White Rock Wildlife Management.
  • The visions were less recurrent than those from others, such as background music at a department store.
  • She had the background and the education, but she didn’t have the inclination to adapt.
  • Debbie was confused by my distraction and background noise, but we went straight to business once the dog stopped barking.
  • There is something in its appearances; he keeps the genuine views in the background from tactical considerations.
  • While her writing shows her education, her background will equip her for the realities of the real world.
  • In her background, there was diplomacy and peacemaking from the start.
  • The government did not use the American military force as a passive background.
  • Their issues went into the background as they prepared the house for the babies.
  • Over the next four years, Callie kept in the background in silence, waiting her time.

Foreground And Background: How Do People Use The Words?

In Grammar

As nouns. The main difference is that:

  • Foreground refers to the elements of a picture that lies closest to the picture plane.
  • Background is one’s social heritage, what one did in the past/previously.

As verbs. The main difference is that:

  • Foreground means to place something or someone in the foreground (physically or figuratively).
  • Background means to position something or someone in a place that is not important.

In The Context Of Computing

The main difference is that:

  • Foreground is the software or application the user is interacting with at the moment. The application window comes up in front of all others. The foreground includes the applications the user is currently working on.
  • Background is the activity on a computer that is not usually visible to the user. The background includes all the applications that are behind the scenes, like operating system functions, accessing the network, or printing a document.

In The Context Of Arts, Photography, And Colors

The easy way to put it is this:

  • The foreground is that part of the picture or image that is closest to the camera.
  • The background is the part of the picture or image that is further away from the camera.

The terms foreground and background are important principles in photography and cinematography. Principles for:

  • Field Depth. An image appears sharp in a scene and as the distance between the nearest and farthest object defines it.
  • Fill Flash. It is to expose the objects located in the foreground and background perfectly.
  • Deep Focus. It is a technique that uses a field of large depth.

Other Uses: Can Foreground And Background Be Used Together?

We can sometimes use both terms together.

  • Foreground-background. It is a scheduling algorithm used to execute multiple processes using a single processor.
  • Foreground-background segmentation. It is a method used to study change blindness. It uses photographs with different foreground and background scenery.

Conclusion

The terms foreground and background have wide possibilities and many different uses.