back forty
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back forty
Where it comes from
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.
noun back forties
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The remote part of a farm.
They couldn't contact the farmer right away because he was out plowing the back forty
Opposite: home forty
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The most remote or inaccessible part of any place.
Similar: See: Thesaurus:remote place
Talk about this word "back forty." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/back%20forty. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. back forty. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/back%20forty "back forty." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/back%20forty.Cite this
@misc{back_forty_2026,
title = {back forty},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/back%20forty},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
