Origin: Hinterland is a German word meaning "the land behind" (a city, a port, or similar). The term's use in English was first documented by geographer
George Chisholm in his Handbook of Commercial Geography (1888).
1. The often uncharted areas beyond a coastal district or a
river's banks.
"
early settlers were driven from the coastal areas into the hinterland"
synonyms: backwoods, backwater, wilds, wilderness,
bush, back of beyond, back-country; More
informal-sticks, middle of nowhere, boondocks, boonies;
outback
2. An area lying beyond what is visible or known.
1. "Jody always worried that his
father would take them back to the hinterland"
2. "in the hinterland of his mind these things
rose,
dark and ominous"