background - noun

a person's social heritage: previous experience or training

the part of a scene (or picture) that lies behind objects in the foreground

information that is essential to understanding a situation or problem

extraneous signals that can be confused with the phenomenon to be observed or measured

relatively unimportant or inconspicuous accompanying situation

the state of the environment in which a situation exists

(computer science) the area of the screen in graphical user interfaces against which icons and windows appear

scenery hung at back of stage

background - verb

• understate the importance or quality of

background - thesaurus

backcloth   backdrop   desktop   downplay   ground   scope   setting