backup

See also: back-up and back up

English

Alternative forms

back-up

Etymology

From back +‎ up.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈbækˌʌp/
- Audio (Southern England) (file)

Noun

backup (plural backups)

A reserve or substitute.
If the goalkeeper is injured, we have a backup.
(computing) A copy of a file or record, stored separately from the original, that can be used to recover the original if it is destroyed or damaged.
After the power failure, we had to restore the database from backup.
An accumulation of material caused by a (partial) obstruction or (complete) blockage of the flow or movement of the material, or an accumulation of material that causes an overflow due to the flow being greater than the maximum possible flow.
The accident caused a mile-long backup on the highway.
The blockage caused a backup in the plumbing.
(law enforcement) reinforcements
He's got a gun! You'd better send for backup.
- 2010, BioWare, Mass Effect 2 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, OCLC 865290061, PC, scene: Tuchanka:
  Shaman: My patience is tested, but Uvenk invokes correctly. Grunt, who is your krantt? Your allies willing to kill and die on your behalf?
  Shepard: How is a candidate tested if he brings backup on his Rite of Passage?
  Shaman: Not every krogan can be the strongest warrior, but each must inspire his peers to battle at his side.
  Shaman: If the ones who know you best can find nothing worthy in you, you should wander the wastes and die alone before you weaken my clan.

Synonyms

(reserve): reserve, stand-in, spare, substitute
(computing: copy of a file or record):
(accumulation of material caused by an obstruction of flow): tailback, line (of cars)

Descendants

→ Danish: backup
→ Italian: backup
→ Japanese: バックアップ (bakkuappu)
→ Korean: 백업 (baegeop)
→ Portuguese: backup, becape
→ Swedish: backup

Translations

reserve

Czech: záloha (cs) f
Dutch: reserve (nl) f
Finnish: vara-
French: remplaçant (fr) m
German: Unterstützung (de) f, Deckung (de) f, Ersatz (de) m
Hebrew: גיבוי‎ m (gibui)
Italian: riserva (it) f, sostituto (it) m
Japanese: 予備 (ja) (よび, yobi), 控え (ja) (ひかえ, hikae), 補欠 (ja) (ほけつ, hoketsu)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: yedek (ku)
Persian: جاگزین‎, جایگزین‎ (fa)
Polish: awaryjny (pl)
Russian: резе́рв (ru) m (rezérv), дублёр (ru) m (dubljór)
Spanish: respaldo (es) m, reserva (es) f

copy of file or record

Azerbaijani: ehtiyat nüsxə
Catalan: còpia de seguretat (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 備份／备份 (zh) (bèifèn)
Czech: záloha (cs) f, (action) zálohování n
Dutch: back-up (nl) m, reservekopie f
Esperanto: sekurkopio, rezervkopio, savkopio, vicrisurco, rezervo
Faroese: trygdarrit
Finnish: varmuuskopio (fi)
French: sauvegarde (fr) f
Galician: copia de seguridade f
Georgian: სარეზერვო ასლი (sarezervo asli), ბაკაპი (baḳaṗi) (colloquial), მარქაფი (markapi) (rare)
German: Datensicherung (de) f, Backup (de) n, Reservekopie f, Sicherheitskopie f, Sicherungskopie f
Greek: αντίγραφο ασφαλείας n (antígrafo asfaleías)
Hebrew: גיבוי‎ m (gibui)
Hungarian: adatmentés (hu), biztonsági mentés
Icelandic: öryggisafrit n, afrit n
Indonesian: cadangan (id), (action) pencadangan (id)
Italian: backup (it) m, copia di riserva f, copia di sicurezza f
Japanese: バックアップ (ja) (bakkuappu)
Korean: 백업 (baegeop)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: paşnusxe
Macedonian: резервна копија f (rezervna kopija), сигурносна копија f (sigurnosna kopija)
Malay: salinan sandaran, salinan keselamatan, (action) penyandaran
Norman: baqu'thie f (Jersey)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: sikkerhetskopi m, reservekopi m
Persian: پشتیبان‎ (fa) (poštibân)
Polish: kopia zapasowa f, kopia bezpieczeństwa f, backup (pl) m
Portuguese: backup (pt) m, becape (pt) m, cópia de segurança f, cópia de reserva f
Russian: резе́рвная ко́пия f (rezérvnaja kópija), (colloquial) бэка́п (ru) m (bɛkáp), (action) резе́рвное копи́рование (ru) n (rezérvnoje kopírovanije)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: резервна копија f, сигурносна копија f, причувна копија f
Roman: rezervna kopija f, sigurnosna kopija f, pričuvna kopija f
Slovene: varnostna kopija f, rezervna kopija f
Spanish: copia de seguridad f, copia de reserva f, copia de respaldo f
Swedish: säkerhetskopia (sv) c, reservkopia c

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Norman: ^{(please verify)} baqu'thie f (Jersey)

Adjective

backup (not comparable)

Standby, reserve or extra.
I am only a backup player.
(computing) That is intended as a backup.
Make a backup copy of that file.
Supporting, reinforcing; (music) of or related to accompaniment

Usage notes

Back-up is an alternative spelling of backup. Both spellings are used as either a noun or an adjective. The verb back up is always spelled as two words and never with a hyphen.

Synonyms

(reserve): extra, reserve, spare, standby
(supporting): backing

Derived terms

backup beeper
backup vocalist
backup vocals
incremental backup
rolling backup

Translations

standby, reserve or extra

Azerbaijani: ehtiyat (az)
Czech: záložní
Dutch: reserve (nl)
Finnish: vara-
French: remplaçant (fr) m
German: Ersatz- (de) (noun), Hilfs- (de) (noun genitive)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: cîgir (ku)
Portuguese: reserva (pt) f
Russian: резе́рвный (ru) (rezérvnyj), запасно́й (ru) (zapasnój)
Spanish: de reserva (es)

intended as backup

Czech: záložní
Dutch: reserve (nl)
Finnish: vara-
French: de sauvegarde
Icelandic: öryggis-
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: yedek (ku)
Portuguese: backup (pt) m

Verb

backup (third-person singular simple present backups, present participle backupping, simple past and past participle backupped)

Misspelling of back up.

Anagrams

upback

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English backup.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /beˈkap/, /ˈbɛ.kap/
Rhymes: -ap, -ɛkap

Noun

backup m (invariable)

(computing) backup

Portuguese

Alternative forms

becape

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English backup.

Noun

backup m (plural backups)

(computing) backup (copy of file or record)