back-page

The word 'back-page' is a modern English compound formed from two nouns with ancient roots. 'Back' originates from the Proto-Germanic 'bakam', a word of uncertain Proto-Indo-European origin but firmly established in Germanic languages to denote the rear surface. 'Page' has a more literary journey, deriving from Latin 'pagina', meaning a "sheet of paper" or "column of writing," possibly from the root 'pag-' meaning "to fasten," as pages were fastened into scrolls or books. The compound 'back-page' logically emerged from the physical layout of print publications, where the final page is at the back. Over time, it developed a specific journalistic connotation, as this page in newspapers was historically used for sports reports, lighter features, or sensational stories, leading to its modern adjectival sense describing content deemed less serious than front-page news.

Structure: back (rear) + page (sheet) back: From Old English 'bæc', meaning "the rear part of the human body; the spine." In this compound, it functions as an attributive noun specifying location. page: From Old French 'page', via Latin 'pagina' meaning "a sheet of paper, a page of a book." It functions as the core noun being modified.