different between back vs dorsum
back
English
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /bæk/, [bæk], [bak], [-k?], [-?k]
- (Scouse) IPA(key): [bax]
- Rhymes: -æk
- Hyphenation: back
Etymology 1
From Middle English bak, from Old English bæc, from Proto-West Germanic *bak, from Proto-Germanic *bak?, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *b?ogo (literally “bending”). The adverb represents an aphetic form of aback.
Compare Middle Low German bak (“back”), from Old Saxon bak, and West Frisian bekling (“chair back”), Old High German bah, Swedish and Norwegian bak. Cognate with German Bache (“sow [adult female hog]”).
Adjective
back (not generally comparable, comparative more back, superlative most back)
- At or near the rear.
- Not current.
- Situated away from the main or most frequented areas.
- In arrears; overdue.
- Moving or operating backward.
- (comparable, phonetics) Pronounced with the highest part of the body of the tongue toward the back of the mouth, near the soft palate (most often describing a vowel).
Usage notes
In linguistic use describing the position of the tongue, the comparative backer and superlative backest are usual; these may also be occasionally found for other senses, especially informally.
Synonyms
- (near the rear): rear
- (not current): former, previous
Antonyms
- (near the rear, phonetics): front
- (not current): current
- (away from the main area): main (of roads)
Translations
See also
- back vowel
Adverb
back (comparative further back, superlative furthest back)
- (not comparable) To or in a previous condition or place.
- In a direction opposite to that in which someone or something is facing or normally pointing.
- Someone pushed me in the chest and I fell back.
- The grandfather clock toppled back and crashed to the ground.
- Her arm was bent back at an odd angle.
- In a direction opposite to the usual or desired direction of movement or progress, physically or figuratively.
- So as to reverse direction and return.
- The light bounces back off the mirror.
- Towards, into or in the past.
- Away from someone or something; at a distance.
- Keep back! It could explode at any moment!
- Away from the front or from an edge.
- So as shrink, recede or move aside, or cause to do so.
- This tree is dying back.
- Clear back all this vegetation.
- Draw back the curtains and let in some light.
- In a manner that impedes.
- (not comparable) In a reciprocal manner; in return.
- (postpositive) Earlier, ago.
- To a later point in time. See also put back.
Translations
Postposition
back
- Before now, ago
- Woods, John (1822) Two Years' Residence in the Settlement on the English Prairie, in the Illinois Country, United States (in English), page 138: “Our road was chiefly through woods, and part of it lay through the Hurricane-track, that is where a strong wind, some years back, opened a passage through the woods for a mile in breadth...”
Noun
back (plural backs)
- The rear of the body, especially the part between the neck and the end of the spine and opposite the chest and belly.
- The spine and associated tissues.
- (slang, uncountable) Large and attractive buttocks.
- (figuratively) The part of a piece of clothing which covers the back.
- The backrest, the part of a piece of furniture which receives the human back.
- (obsolete) That part of the body that bears clothing. (Now used only in the phrase clothes on one's back.)
- The spine and associated tissues.
- That which is farthest away from the front.
- The side of any object which is opposite the front or useful side.
- The edge of a book which is bound.
- (printing) The inside margin of a page.
- The side of a blade opposite the side used for cutting.
- The edge of a book which is bound.
- The reverse side; the side that is not normally seen.
- Area behind, such as the backyard of a house.
- The part of something that goes last.
- (sports) In some team sports, a position behind most players on the team.
- The side of any object which is opposite the front or useful side.
- (figuratively) Upper part of a natural object which is considered to resemble an animal's back.
- A support or resource in reserve.
- (nautical) The keel and keelson of a ship.
- (mining) The roof of a horizontal underground passage.
- (slang, uncountable) Effort, usually physical.
- A non-alcoholic drink (often water or a soft drink), to go with hard liquor or a cocktail.
- Among leather dealers, one of the thickest and stoutest tanned hides.
- 1848, Maine Supreme Judicial Court, Maine Reports (volume 6, page 397)
- […] as delivered by a tanner the average weight of a back and two strips would be about 42 pounds […].
- 1848, Maine Supreme Judicial Court, Maine Reports (volume 6, page 397)
Synonyms
- (side opposite the visible side): reverse
- (rear of the body): dorsum
Hyponyms
- (lower rear of the body): See Thesaurus:buttocks
Antonyms
- (side opposite the front or useful side): front
- (that which is farthest away from the front): front
Coordinate terms
- (non-alcoholic drink): chaser
Derived terms
- abackward
- ass backward
- have someone's back
Related terms
- bacon
Translations
Verb
back (third-person singular simple present backs, present participle backing, simple past and past participle backed)
- (intransitive) To go in the reverse direction.
- (transitive) To support.
- (nautical, of the wind) To change direction contrary to the normal pattern; that is, to shift anticlockwise in the northern hemisphere, or clockwise in the southern hemisphere.
- (nautical, of a square sail) To brace the yards so that the wind presses on the front of the sail, to slow the ship.
- (nautical, of an anchor) To lay out a second, smaller anchor to provide additional holding power.
- (Britain, of a hunting dog) To stand still behind another dog which has pointed.
- (transitive) To push or force backwards.
- (transitive, obsolete) To get upon the back of; to mount.
- (transitive, obsolete) To place or seat upon the back.
- To make a back for; to furnish with a back.
- To adjoin behind; to be at the back of.
- 1877, Thomas Henry Huxley, Physiography: An Introduction to the Study of Nature
- the chalk cliffs which back the beach
- So this was my future home, I thought! […] Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.
- 1877, Thomas Henry Huxley, Physiography: An Introduction to the Study of Nature
- To write upon the back of, possibly as an endorsement.
- (law, of a justice of the peace) To sign or endorse (a warrant, issued in another county, to apprehend an offender).
- To row backward with (oars).
Antonyms
- (nautical: of the wind): veer
Translations
Derived terms
Etymology 2
Borrowed from French bac.
Noun
back (plural backs)
- A large shallow vat; a cistern, tub, or trough, used by brewers, distillers, dyers, picklers, gluemakers, and others, for mixing or cooling wort, holding water, hot glue, etc.
- A ferryboat.
Translations
Czech
Alternative forms
- bek
Etymology
Borrowed from English back.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [?b?k]
- Rhymes: -?k
- Homophone: beg
Noun
back m anim
- (sports, obsolete) back
Declension
Synonyms
- obránce
- zadák
Antonyms
- úto?ník
- forward
Noun
back m inan
- (sports, rare) defense
Declension
Synonyms
- obrana
Antonyms
- útok
Further reading
- back in P?íru?ní slovník jazyka ?eského, 1935–1957
- back in Slovník spisovného jazyka ?eského, 1960–1971, 1989
French
Etymology
From English back
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bak/
- Homophone: bac
Adverb
back
- (Louisiana, Cajun French, Acadian) back
- Dis trois je vous salue Marie, et je veux point te voir icitte back à voler du plywood. — “Say three hail Maries, and I don't want to see you back here stealing plywood.”
German
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bak/
- Rhymes: -ak
Verb
back
- singular imperative of backen
- (colloquial) first-person singular present of backen
Middle English
Noun
back
- Alternative form of bak (“back”)
Swedish
Etymology
From English back
Pronunciation
Noun
back c
- crate; storage of bottles
- back; position behind most players on the team
- reverse; car gear
Declension
back From the web:
- what backs bitcoin
- what backs the us dollar
- what background
- what back conditions qualify for disability
- what backs the money supply
- what backs the money supply of the united states
- what backorder means
- what backsplash goes with white cabinets
dorsum
English
Etymology
From Latin dorsum.
Noun
dorsum (plural dorsa)
- The back of the tongue, used for articulating dorsal consonants.
- The top of the foot or the back of the hand.
- (anatomy) The back or dorsal region on the surface of an animal.
- (astrogeology) A ridge on a hill, or on the surface of a planet or moon.
- (astronomy) Theta Capricorni, a star on the back of the Goat
Synonyms
- (back of an animal): back
Related terms
- dorsal / dorsumal
Translations
References
- dorsum in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- dorsum on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Anagrams
- dromus, dumsor
Latin
Alternative forms
- *dossum
Etymology
From Proto-Italic *dorsom, with no known cognates in any other Indo-European languages. Has been linked to deorsum, but their contemporaneous use suggests that one was not a phonetic development of the other.
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /?dor.sum/, [?d??rs????]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /?dor.sum/, [?d??rsum]
Noun
dorsum n (genitive dors?); second declension
- (anatomy) back, part of the body between the neck and buttocks
- (figuratively) ridge, summit
Declension
Second-declension noun (neuter).
Antonyms
- venter
Derived terms
- dors?lis
- dorsualia
Descendants
References
- dorsum in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- dorsum in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- dorsum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
- dorsum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
dorsum From the web:
- what dorsum of foot
- what's dorsum of hand
- dorsum what means
- what does dorsum mean
- what is dorsum of tongue
- what is dorsum in anatomy
- what is dorsum of nose
- what does dorsum mean in anatomy
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