background vs highlight

background

noun
  • One's social heritage, or previous life; what one did in the past. 

  • Information relevant to the current situation about past events; history. 

  • The image or color over which a computer's desktop items are shown (e.g. icons or application windows). 

  • A part of the picture that depicts scenery to the rear or behind the main subject; context. 

  • A less important feature of scenery (as opposed to foreground). 

  • A type of activity on a computer that is not normally visible to the user. 

adj
  • Less important or less noticeable in a scene or system. 

verb
  • To put in a position that is not prominent. 

  • To gather and provide background information (on). 

highlight

verb
  • To be a highlight of. 

  • To make prominent; emphasize. 

  • To seek the attention of (a user) on IRC by mentioning their name in a message, causing that message to appear highlighted on their screen. 

  • To mark (important passages of text), e.g. with a fluorescent marker pen or in a wordprocessor, as a means of memory retention or for later reference. 

  • To dye (part of the hair) a different color than the rest. 

noun
  • An area or a spot in a drawing, painting, or photograph that is strongly illuminated. 

  • An especially significant or interesting detail or event or period of time. 

  • A strand or spot of hair dyed a different color than the rest. 

How often have the words background and highlight occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )