foreground

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: fore=ground

CIDE DICTIONARY

foreground, n. 

 On a painting, and sometimes in a bas-relief, mosaic picture, or the like, that part of the scene represented, which is nearest to the spectator, and therefore occupies the lowest part of the work of art itself. Cf. Distance, n., 6.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

foreground, n.
1 the part of a view, esp. in a picture, that is nearest the observer.
2 the most conspicuous position.

Etymology

Du. voorgrond (as FORE-, GROUND(1))

THESAURUS

foreground

anteriority, approach, approximation, bold front, brave face, brave front, closeness, confines, convergence, display, environs, facade, face, facet, facia, fore, forefront, forehand, foreland, forepart, forequarter, foreside, foreword, front, front elevation, front man, front matter, front page, front view, frontage, frontal, frontier, frontispiece, head, heading, immediacy, immediate foreground, lap, nearness, neighborhood, nighness, obverse, precinct, preface, prefix, priority, propinquity, proscenium, proximity, purlieus, vicinage, vicinity, window dressing

ROGET THESAURUS

foreground

Front

N front, fore, forepart, foreground, face, disk, disc, frontage, facade, proscenium, facia, frontispiece, anteriority, obverse (of a medal or coin), fore rank, front rank, van, vanguard, advanced guard, outpost, first line, scout, brow, forehead, visage, physiognomy, phiz, countenance, mut, rostrum, beak, bow, stem, prow, prore, jib, pioneer, metoposcopy, fore, anterior, front, frontal, before, in front, in the van, in advance, ahead, right ahead, forehead, foremost, in the foreground, in the lee of, before one's face, before one's eyes, face to face, vis-a-vis, front a front, formosa muta commendatio est, frons est animi janua, Human face divine, imago animi vultus est indices oculi, sea of upturned faces.