Backdoor
/ˈbæk.dɔːr/noun
A rear entrance to a building, or a secret, indirect way of doing something.
Did you know?The modern figurative sense of a "backdoor" as a secret method or hidden access point comes from the same plain old house-part image: the rear door became a metaphor for bypassing the main, public entrance.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
bæc
“the back or rear side”
Old English
OE
duru
“door, gate, entrance”
Middle English
ME
bak dore
“a rear door or entrance at the back of a house”
16th–17th Century
English
back door
“a literal rear entrance; later also a secret or indirect means of access”
Modern English
English
backdoor
“a rear entrance, or a concealed method of access or action”