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Aback vs Behind - What's the difference?

aback | behind |

In archaic terms the difference between aback and behind

is that aback is in the rear; a distance behind while behind is not yet brought forward, produced, or exhibited to view; out of sight; remaining.

As a preposition behind is

at the back of.

aback

English

Etymology 1

* From (etyl) . * . Compare West Frisian .

Adverb

(-)
  • (archaic) Towards the back or rear; backwards.
  • * (rfdate),
  • Therewith aback she started.
  • (archaic) In the rear; a distance behind.
  • (Knolles)
  • By surprise; startled; dumbfounded.
  • (nautical) Backward against the mast; said of the sails when pressed by the wind from the "wrong" (forward) side, or of a ship when its sails are set that way.
  • By setting the foresail aback and the headsail in the middle one can bring a fore-and-aft rigged sailing boat practically to a halt even in heavy wind.
    (Totten)
    Usage notes
    * (by surprise) Preceded by a form of the word take .

    See also

    *

    Etymology 2

    From abacus.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) An abacus.
  • (Ben Jonson)

    References

    behind

    English

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • At the back of.
  • *
  • *:But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶, and a 'bead' could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the hedge, little dreaming that the deadly tube was levelled at them.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=(Timothy Garton Ash)
  • , volume=189, issue=6, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Where Dr Pangloss meets Machiavelli , passage=Hidden behind thickets of acronyms and gorse bushes of detail, a new great game is under way across the globe. Some call it geoeconomics, but it's geopolitics too. The current power play consists of an extraordinary range of countries simultaneously sitting down to negotiate big free trade and investment agreements.}}
  • To the back of.
  • After, time- or motion-wise.
  • *1883 , (Robert Louis Stevenson), (Treasure Island)
  • *:About the center, and a good way behind the rest, Silver and I followed - I tethered by my rope.
  • Responsible for.
  • In support of.
  • :
  • Left a distance by, in progress or improvement; inferior to.
  • :
  • *Bible, xi.5:
  • *:I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.
  • Synonyms

    * in back of * to the rear of

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • At the back part; in the rear.
  • * Milton
  • I shall not lag behind .
  • Toward the back part or rear; backward.
  • to look behind
  • Overdue, in arrears.
  • My employer is two paychecks behind on paying my salary.
    I'm two weeks behind in my schedule.
  • Slow; of a watch or clock.
  • ''My watch is four minutes behind .
  • existing afterwards
  • He left behind a legacy of death and sorrow.
    He stayed behind after the war.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, / And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, / Leave not a rack behind .
  • Backward in time or order of succession; past.
  • * Bible, Phil. ii. 13
  • forgetting those things which are behind
  • Behind the scenes in a theatre; backstage.
  • * 1890 , (Oscar Wilde), The Picture of Dorian Gray , Vintage 2007, p. 68:
  • ‘After the performance was over I went behind , and spoke to her.’
  • (archaic) Not yet brought forward, produced, or exhibited to view; out of sight; remaining.
  • * John Locke
  • We cannot be sure that there is no evidence behind .

    Usage notes

    For usage in phrasal verbs, see Category: English phrasal verbs with particle "behind": .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • the rear, back-end
  • butt, the buttocks, bottom
  • (Australian rules football) A one-point score.
  • * 1880 . "The Opening Ball" in Comic Australian Verse'', ed. G. Lehmann, 1975. Quoted in G. A. Wilkes, ''A Dictionary of Australian Colloquialisms , second edition, 1985, (Sydney University Press), ISBN 0-424-00113-6.
  • A roar from ten thousand throats go up,
    For we've kicked another behind.
  • The catcher.
  • In the Eton College field game, any of a group of players consisting of two "shorts" (who try to kick the ball over the bully) and a "long" (who defends the goal).
  • Derived terms

    * behind bars * behind closed doors * behind in the count * behind somebody's back * behind the arc * behind the bit * behind the counter * behind the eight-ball * behind the scenes * behind the wheel * behindhand * caught behind * come from behind * drop behind * fall behind * get behind * hiney * leave behind * rushed behind * stay behind * wet behind the ears

    Statistics

    *

    References

    * Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans, "Spatial particles of orientation", in The Semantics of English Prepositions: Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning and Cognition , Cambridge University Press, 2003, 0-521-81430 8