Background

Webster's Dictionary of the English Language

·noun A place in obscurity or retirement, or out of sight.

II. Background ·noun The space which is behind and subordinate to a portrait or group of figures.

III. Background ·noun Anything behind, serving as a foil; as, the statue had a background of red hangings.

IV. Background ·noun Ground in the rear or behind, or in the distance, as opposed to the foreground, or the ground in front.