Dictionary

foreground en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈfɔː(ɹ)ˌɡɹaʊnd/ (UK)
• (US) audio

Etymology

From fore- + ground. Compare Dutch voorgrond (“foreground”), German Vordergrund (“foreground”), Danish forgrund (“foreground”), Swedish förgrund (“foreground”), Norwegian forgrunn (“foreground”), Icelandic forgrunni (“foreground”).

Meanings

1. The elements of an image which lie closest to the picture plane.
   • Note the presence in the foreground of the fronds of ailanthus, often called “ghetto palm,” now ubiquitous in Baltimore but apparently already common in the 1930s. 2006, Mark Chalkley, Hampden-Woodberry:
2. The subject of an image, often depicted at the bottom in a two-dimensional work.
3. (attributive, often) The application the user is currently interacting with; the application window that appears in front of all others.

Forms

Deriveds

foregrounder · foregroundable

Relateds

background · midground

Translations (21)

wa divant-plan (the elements of an image which lie closest to the picture plane) · fr avant-plan (the elements of an image which lie closest to the picture plane) · es primer plano (the elements of an image which lie closest to the picture plane) · fr premier plan (the elements of an image which lie closest to the picture plane) · hu előtér (the elements of an image which lie closest to the picture plane) · fi edusta (the elements of an image which lie closest to the picture plane) · cs popředí (the elements of an image which lie closest to the picture plane) · nl voorgrond (the elements of an image which lie closest to the picture plane) · ja 前景 (the elements of an image which lie closest to the picture plane) · fi etuala (the elements of an image which lie closest to the picture plane) · de Vordergrund (the elements of an image which lie closest to the picture plane) · pt primeiro plano (the elements of an image which lie closest to the picture plane) · sv förgrund (the elements of an image which lie closest to the picture plane) · ro prim plan (the elements of an image which lie closest to the picture plane) · bg пре́ден план (the elements of an image which lie closest to the picture plane) · it primo piano (the elements of an image which lie closest to the picture plane) · cmn 前景 (the elements of an image which lie closest to the picture plane) · el προσκήνιο (the elements of an image which lie closest to the picture plane) · uk пере́дній пла́н (the elements of an image which lie closest to the picture plane) · ko 전경 (the elements of an image which lie closest to the picture plane) · ru пере́дний пла́н (the elements of an image which lie closest to the picture plane)

foreground en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈfɔː(ɹ)ˌɡɹaʊnd/ (UK)
• (US) audio

Etymology

From fore- + ground. Compare Dutch voorgrond (“foreground”), German Vordergrund (“foreground”), Danish forgrund (“foreground”), Swedish förgrund (“foreground”), Norwegian forgrunn (“foreground”), Icelandic forgrunni (“foreground”).

Meanings

1. To place in the foreground (physically or metaphorically).
   • Right from the start, The Irishman foregrounds the looming inevitability of death. 2019 October 31, A. A. Dowd, “Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro reunite for one last gripping crime epic, The Irishman”, in AV Club, archived from the original on 21 Aug 2020:
   • Things that were implicit and largely unjudged in the book, filtered through layers of stiff-upper-lip irony — Fanny’s self-pity, Linda’s obliviousness — are now foregrounded and, for the most part, rendered banal, with “Beaches”-level platitudes and sentimentality. 2021 July 29, Mike Hale, “Review: ‘The Pursuit of Love’ Against All Odds”, in The New York Times:

Forms

Synonyms

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Translations (3)

nb fremheve (to place in the foreground (physically or metaphorically)) · hu kiemel (to place in the foreground (physically or metaphorically)) · hu előtérbe helyez/állít (to place in the foreground (physically or metaphorically))