back end

• back-end, backend
• backen', back-en' (Scotland)

back end (plural back ends)

1. The rear, back, or unseen portion (of something).

   The back end of the operation is kept out of sight of the customers.

2. (computing) That part of a hardware or software system that is farthest from the user; the internals rather than the user interface.

   Antonym: front end

   • 2002, Simson Garfinkel, Michael K. Mahoney, Building Cocoa Applications: A Step-by-step Guide, "O'Reilly Media, Inc." (→ISBN), page 295:

     Together, the MathDocument and PaperController classes comprise the MathPaper application's front end, while the Evaluator makes up the application's back end. This technique of having separate front and back ends is a common […]

3. (Britain dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) The latter end of any given time, especially the latter part of the year; autumn; late autumn.

• look like the back end of a bus

• front end