Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

back forty

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.19 in modern English

Syllables
back- -forty
IPA
23
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The remote part of a farm.

Canadian usage; American usage

noun

The most remote or inaccessible part of any place.

Canadian usage; American usage

Example Sentences

Etymology

From back + forty, meaning “back side of a farm”. In the Homestead Acts (1860s–), farmers were granted a quarter section; a section was nominally 1 square mile containing 640 acres, a quarter section was 160 acres, and the quarter section was itself subdivided into four quarter-quarter sections of 40 acres each: two front forty and two back forty. Compare north forty, back of beyond, backcountry, and backwater.

Usage

Inflected Forms

back forties (plural)

Synonyms

See: Thesaurus:remote place

Antonyms

home forty

Questions

What does back forty mean?
The remote part of a farm.
Where does back forty come from?
From back + forty, meaning “back side of a farm”. In the Homestead Acts (1860s–), farmers were granted a quarter section; a section was nominally 1 square mile containing 640 acres, a quarter section was 160 acres, and the quarter section was itself subdivided into four quarter-quarter sections of 40 acres each: two front forty and two back forty. Compare north forty, back of beyond, backcountry, and backwater.

How to pronounce back forty

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