back forty

English

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.

Pronunciation

  • Audio (General Australian):(file)
  • Audio (US):(file)

Noun

back forty (plural back forties)

  1. (US, Canada) The remote part of a farm.
    Antonym: home forty
    They couldn't contact the farmer right away because he was out plowing the back forty
  2. (US, Canada, idiomatic) The most remote or inaccessible part of any place.

Synonyms

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