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in the background

 [bak-ground]   Origin

back·ground

   [bak-ground]
noun
1.
the ground or parts, as of a scene, situated in the rear (opposed to foreground).
2.
Fine Arts.
a.
the part of a painted or carved surface against which represented objects and forms are perceived or depicted: a portrait against a purple background.
b.
the part of an image represented as being at maximum distance from the frontal plane.
3.
one's origin, education, experience, etc., in relation to one's present character, status, etc.
4.
the social, historical, and other antecedents or causes of an event or condition: the background of the war.
5.
the complex of physical, cultural, and psychological factors that serves as the environment of an event or experience; the set of conditions against which an occurrence is perceived.
EXPAND
6.
Physics. the totality of effects that tend to obscure a phenomenon under investigation and above which the phenomenon must be detected.
7.
Telecommunications. (in an electronic device for transmitting or receiving signals) the sum of the effects, as noise or random signals, from which a phenomenon must differentiate itself in character or degree in order to be detected.
COLLAPSE
adjective
8.
of, pertaining to, or serving as a background: background noise.

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In the background is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...
verb (used with object)
9.
to supply a background to: The passenger's idle thoughts were backgrounded by the drone of the plane's engines.
10.
to supply a background of information for: To background themselves, reporters dug through all available files on the case.
Idiom
11.
in/into the background, unobtrusive; inconspicuous; out of sight or notice; in or into obscurity: He kept his dishonest dealings in the background.
Origin:
1665–75; back1 + ground1

Synonyms
4. environment, circumstances, upbringing, milieu, element, sphere, medium.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To in the background
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

background
1670s, from back (adj.) + ground; original sense was theatrical, later applied to painting. Figurative sense is first attested 1854.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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