bakside

Bakside is a noun used in some Scandinavian languages to designate the rear surface or opposite side of an object. The term is formed from bak, meaning back, and side, meaning side. It commonly refers to the side of an object that faces away from the observer or from the front of the item.

In practice, standard terms vary by language. Danish uses bagside; Norwegian uses baksiden (and less commonly bakside in some dialects); Swedish uses baksida. The spelling bakside can appear in dialectal usage or historical texts, but is less common as the modern standard form in these languages.

The concept applies across contexts such as printing, packaging, photography, electronics, and architecture, where the bakside denotes the reverse face of a sheet, label, device housing, or architectural panel. In everyday speech it often contrasts with the front side.

Etymology traces bakside to Germanic roots, with bak meaning back and side meaning side. The compounds are parallel to similar constructions in related languages, reflecting a common semantic field for rear-facing surfaces.

See also: back side, front side, baksida, bagside.