Dictionary

back end en · NOUN

Meanings

1. The rear, back, or unseen portion (of something).
   • The back end of the operation is kept out of sight of the customers.
2. That part of a hardware or software system that is farthest from the user; the internals rather than the user interface.
   • Together, the MathDocument and PaperController classes comprise the MathPaper application's front end, while the Evaluator makes up the application's back end. This technique of having separate front and back ends is a common […] 2002, Simson Garfinkel, Michael K. Mahoney, Building Cocoa Applications: A Step-by-step Guide, "O'Reilly Media, Inc.", →ISBN, page 295:
3. (Northern-England, Scotland, UK, dialectal) The latter end of any given time, especially the latter part of the year; autumn; late autumn.
   • I'll see you on the back end of tomorrow.
4. (usually) Money paid on a contingent deferred basis, for example, as a proportion of the profits or revenue of a work.
   • so-called “back end” deals is speculative at best. Ideally, the author or book publisher will secure a percentage of gross revenues rather than net profits, but such deals are rare indeed. 1995, Jonathan Kirsch, Kirsch's Handbook of Publishing Law, page 212:
   • How does the taking of “back end” compensation affect the creative control asserted by an actor? 2003, Melvin Simensky, Entertainment Law, page 1222:
   • That kind of money, he can get a piece of anybody's back end he wants." “It's an industry phrase. Means if the picture is a big hit, he gets a share of the profits, sometimes even a percentage of gross. 2004, Dean Koontz, The Face, page 64:
   • […] Miramax was going to buy out the U.S. and Canadian rights to the picture and terminate everyone else's participation for a payout that included a guaranteed amount for the back end, as well as bonuses if the film exceeded certain levels of U.S. box office performance. 2013, Peter Biskind, Down and Dirty Pictures:
5. The processing of spent fuel from a nuclear reactor into reusable materials.

Forms

Antonyms

front end

Deriveds

look like the back end of a bus · backendish

Relateds

front end

Translations (27)

bg бекенд (computing: part of a system that is farthest from the user) · de Back-End (computing: part of a system that is farthest from the user) · fi takapää (rear, back or invisible portion) · ru кухня (rear, back or invisible portion) · ka ბექენდი (computing: part of a system that is farthest from the user) · ru закулисье (rear, back or invisible portion) · es dorsal (computing: part of a system that is farthest from the user) · bg бакенд (computing: part of a system that is farthest from the user) · fi loppupää (rear, back or invisible portion) · ru за́дняя часть (rear, back or invisible portion) · ru по́здняя (latter end of any given time) · fi loppuosa (rear, back or invisible portion) · ru бэк-э́нд (computing: part of a system that is farthest from the user) · fr back-end (computing: part of a system that is farthest from the user) · fi taustajärjestelmä (computing: part of a system that is farthest from the user) · bg край (latter end of any given time) · fr arrière-plan (computing: part of a system that is farthest from the user) · fi loppupuoli (latter end of any given time) · es motor (computing: part of a system that is farthest from the user) · fa پسا (computing: part of a system that is farthest from the user) · cmn 後端 /后端 (computing: part of a system that is farthest from the user) · fi back end (computing: part of a system that is farthest from the user) · ka სერვერული მხარე (computing: part of a system that is farthest from the user) · ru прикладна́я часть (computing: part of a system that is farthest from the user) · ja バックエンド (computing: part of a system that is farthest from the user) · fi takaosa (rear, back or invisible portion) · fi palvelinpuoli (computing: part of a system that is farthest from the user)