background

(noun) a person's social heritage: previous experience or training. Examples: "He is a lawyer with a sports background."

(noun) the part of a scene (or picture) that lies behind objects in the foreground. Synonyms: ground. Examples: "He posed her against a background of rolling hills."

(noun) information that is essential to understanding a situation or problem. Synonyms: background knowledge. Examples: "The embassy filled him in on the background of the incident."

(noun) extraneous signals that can be confused with the phenomenon to be observed or measured. Synonyms: background signal. Examples: "They got a bad connection and could hardly hear one another over the background signals."

(noun) relatively unimportant or inconspicuous accompanying situation. Examples: "When the rain came he could hear the sound of thunder in the background."

(noun) the state of the environment in which a situation exists. Synonyms: setting, scope. Examples: "You can't do that in a university setting."

(noun) (computer science) the area of the screen in graphical user interfaces against which icons and windows appear. Synonyms: desktop, screen background.

(noun) scenery hung at back of stage. Synonyms: backdrop, backcloth.

(verb) understate the importance or quality of. Synonyms: play down, downplay. Examples: "He played down his royal ancestry."