  Neutrino-induced recoil events may constitute a background to direct dark
matter searches, particularly for those detectors that strive to reach the
ton-scale and beyond. This paper discusses the expected neutrino-induced
background spectrum due to several of the most important sources, including
solar, atmospheric, and diffuse supernova neutrinos. The largest rate arises
from $^8$B produced solar neutrinos, providing upwards of $\sim 10^3$ events
per ton-year over all recoil energies for the heaviest nuclear targets. However
the majority of these $^8$B events are expected to be below the recoil
threshold of modern detectors. The remaining neutrino sources are found to
constitute a background to the WIMP-induced recoil rate only if the
WIMP-nucleon cross section is less than $10^{-12}$ pb. Finally the sensitivity
to diffuse supernova neutrino flux for non-electron neutrino flavors is
discussed, and projected flux limits are compared with existing flux limits.
