back end

Noun

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. That part of a hardware or software system that is farthest from the user; the internals rather than the user interface.
   • 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 […]2002, Simson Garfinkel, Michael K. Mahoney, Building Cocoa Applications: A Step-by-step Guide, "O'Reilly Media, Inc.", →ISBN, page 295

   Antonyms:

   front end

3. (Northern England, Scotland, UK, dialectal) The latter end of any given time, especially the latter part of the year; autumn; late autumn.
   • I'll see you on the back end of tomorrow.
4. (usually) Money paid on a contingent deferred basis, for example, as a proportion of the profits or revenue of a work.
   • so-called “back end” deals is speculative at best. Ideally, the author or book publisher will secure a percentage of gross revenues rather than net profits, but such deals are rare indeed.1995, Jonathan Kirsch, Kirsch's Handbook of Publishing Law, page 212
   • How does the taking of “back end” compensation affect the creative control asserted by an actor?2003, Melvin Simensky, Entertainment Law, page 1222
5. The processing of spent fuel from a nuclear reactor into reusable materials.