The difference between Background and History

When used as nouns, background means one's social heritage, or previous life, whereas history means the aggregate of past events.

When used as verbs, background means to put in a position that is not prominent, whereas history means to narrate or record.


Background is also adjective with the meaning: less important in a scene.

check bellow for the other definitions of Background and History

  1. Background as an adjective:

    Less important in a scene.

    Examples:

    "'background noise."

  1. Background as a noun:

    One's social heritage, or previous life; what one did in the past.

    Examples:

    "The lawyer had a background in computer science."

  2. Background as a noun:

    A part of the picture that depicts scenery to the rear or behind the main subject; context.

  3. Background as a noun:

    Information relevant to the current situation about past events; history.

  4. Background as a noun:

    A less important feature of scenery (as opposed to foreground).

    Examples:

    "There was tons of noise in the background."

    "The photographer let us pick a background for the portrait."

  5. Background as a noun (computing):

    The image or color over which a computer's desktop items are shown (e.g. icons or application windows).

  6. Background as a noun (computing):

    A type of activity on a computer that is not normally visible to the user.

    Examples:

    "The antivirus program is running in the background."

  1. Background as a verb:

    To put in a position that is not prominent.

  2. Background as a verb (journalism):

    To gather and provide background information (on).

  1. History as a noun:

    The aggregate of past events.

    Examples:

    "'History repeats itself if we don’t learn from its mistakes."

  2. History as a noun:

    The branch of knowledge that studies the past; the assessment of notable events.

    Examples:

    "He teaches history at the university. History will not look kindly on these tyrants. He dreams of an invention that will make history."

  3. History as a noun (countable):

    A set of events involving an entity.

    Examples:

    "What is your medical history? The family's history includes events best forgotten."

  4. History as a noun (countable):

    A record or narrative description of past events.

    Examples:

    "I really enjoyed Shakespeare's tragedies more than his histories."

  5. History as a noun (countable, medicine):

    A list of past and continuing medical conditions of an individual or family.

    Examples:

    "A personal medical history is required for the insurance policy. He has a history of cancer in his family."

  6. History as a noun (countable, computing):

    A record of previous user events, especially of visited web pages in a browser.

    Examples:

    "I visited a great site yesterday but forgot the URL. Luckily, I didn't clear my history."

  7. History as a noun (informal):

    Something that no longer exists or is no longer relevant.

    Examples:

    "I told him that if he doesn't get his act together, he's history."

  8. History as a noun (uncountable):

    Shared experience or interaction.

    Examples:

    "There is too much history between them for them to split up now."

    "He has had a lot of history with the police."

  1. History as a verb (obsolete):

    To narrate or record.

    Examples:

    "rfquotek Shakespeare"