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 === === Noun === back forty (plural back forties) (US, Canada) The remote part of a farm. Antonym: home forty (US, Canada, idiomatic) The most remote or inaccessible part of any place. ==== Synonyms ==== (remote place): See: Thesaurus:remote place