backstairsn.
/ˈbakˈstɛːs/ 1. Stairs at the back of a house; a secondary staircase.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > stairs > [noun] > at the back of a house
backstairs1655
1655 Ld. Orrery Parthenissa IV. ii. vi. 633 To lead him down a back stairs.
1663 Marquis of Worcester Cent. Names & Scantlings Inventions xlviii With Back-stairs..convenient to Servants to pass up and down.
1863 H. Kingsley Austin Elliot I. x. 114 ‘So I hits myself down the back-stairs with a tray-full of glasses.’
2.
a. esp. The private stairs in a palace, used for other than state visitors.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > stairs > [noun] > private
backstairs1627
1627 in Coll. Ordinances Royal Househ. (1790) 343 All access must bee..neither by back stayres or private doores.
1682 London Gaz. No. 1764/4 Whoever brings him to her Royal Highnesses Back-stairs, shall have a Guinea Reward.
1884 19th Cent. Jan. 29 A page of the back stairs of the royal palace.
b. figurative. A secret disingenuous method of approach.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > stealthy action, stealth > [noun] > approach
backstairs1641
postern1642
side door1852
back channel1968
1641 E. Dering Coll. Speeches on Relig. (1642) xi. 40 I hope we are not going up the back-stairs to Socinianisme.
1855 C. Kingsley Westward Ho! (ed. 2) II. x. 269 A priest of the Church of England, (whose business is not merely to smuggle sinful souls up the backstairs into heaven).
c. esp. attributive. Of, pertaining to, or employing underhand intrigue at court. (Occasionally backstair.) Also (in attributive use) clandestine, underhand.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > stealthy action, stealth > [adjective] > accomplished by stealth
stolenc1400
secret1548
clandestine1566
stealed1577
backdoor1581
underhand1592
surreptitial1602
surreptitious?1615
furtive1628
surreptious1630
by1633
surreptive1633
subreptitious1641
surreptitious1645
postern1648
backstairs1663
smuggled1707
underneath1747
underhanded1806
hidlingsa1810
hole-and-corner1835
side door1862
under-cover1933
under the table1938
crafty1946
1663 E. Cooke in 11th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1887) App. v. Dartmouth MSS. 11 Sends humble service to Legge's lady..Dick Lane, and all bedchamber backstair friends.
1697 J. Vanbrugh Relapse ii. 37 A Back-stair Minister.
1768 O. Goldsmith Good Natur'd Man ii. 21 Is not he a back-stairs favourite, one that can do what he pleases with those that do what they please?
1770 E. Burke Thoughts Present Discontents 21 A back-stairs influence, and clandestine government.
1882 L. Stephen Swift 110 The back-stairs plots by which the administration of his friends was hampered.
1930 G. B. Shaw Apple Cart i. 31 They get amusing articles, spiced with exclusive backstairs information.
1933 N. Coward Design for Living i. 19 We could carry on a backstairs affair for weeks without saying a word about it.
1935 T. S. Eliot Murder in Cathedral ii. 58 This is the man who was the tradesman's son: the backstairs brat who was born in Cheapside.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
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