kasta

Forms

kasta (weak class 2)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *kastōną (“to throw”),^[1][2] a weak verb found only in North Germanic.^[3] De Vries and Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon connect it with the nouns kǫs (“heap”) and kǫstr (“pile”);^[4][5] for Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon the verb first meant “to heap together”.^[5] De Vries, after Torp, compares that noun with Latin agger (“mound, rampart”).^[6]

Köbler calls the Germanic verb of unknown origin,^[7] and Wiktionary derives it from a base *kas- of uncertain origin, perhaps related to gerō (“to carry”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Menota first dates the word in the Norwegian fragment NRA norr fragm 81 B, of 1150–1250, with the form kastar.^[8] The earliest record ONP dates is in the Icelandic Homily Book of 1200: kǫstom ver af ǫs myrcra verkom “let us cast off from us the works of darkness”, where the sense is to throw off, renounce.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The verb takes the dative of the thing thrown.^[10][11] Besides plain throwing, it forms many fixed phrases: kasta akkerum “to cast anchor”, kasta hlutum “to cast lots” and kasta teningum “to throw dice”.^[9][12] Figurative uses include kasta trú “to cast off one's faith”, kasta orðum á e-n “to address someone” and kasta um hesti “to wheel a horse round”.^[10][3] In the laws it is used of throwing cargo overboard in distress at sea and of casting nets in fishing.^[13] ONP finds it most often in religious works, family sagas and histories.^[9]

The verb lives on as Icelandic kasta, Swedish kasta and Danish kaste;^[5] Icelandic also uses it of mares foaling.^[5] English cast was borrowed from Norse about 1200 and took over from the native verb warp in the sense “throw”.^[14][15][3]

Timeline

• 1150–1250 – kastar in the Norwegian fragment NRA norr fragm 81 B.^[8]
• 1200 – kǫstom ver af ǫs “let us cast off from us” in the Icelandic Homily Book.^[9]
• c. 1200 – Middle English casten, from Norse.^[14][15]
• 1200–1225 – kastaði, kǫstuðu and kastat in the manuscript AM 677 4to.^[16]
• 1237 – kasta of throwing cargo overboard and of renouncing Christianity, in ONP's records.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. to throw, cast or fling (with the dative); to let fall.^[9][10][3]
2. in phrases: kasta akkerum to cast anchor;^[9][12] kasta hlutum to cast lots;^[9][12] kasta teningum to throw dice.^[9][12]
3. to cast off, put away (clothes; one's faith).^[10][12]
4. to scatter, throw about.^[9]
5. (impersonal) to be thrown or flung;^[10][9] skipinu hafði kastat the ship had capsized.^[10][9]
6. kasta um hesti to wheel a horse right round.^[10][3]

Word family

• kast
• kollkasta
• mótkasta

Descendants

• Icelandic kasta^[1]
• Faroese kasta^[1]
• Norwegian Nynorsk kasta^[1]
• Swedish kasta^[1]
• Danish kaste^[1]
• Middle English casten, whence English cast^[14][15]

Related words

• kǫs
• kǫstr
• verpa

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary database copy), p. s.v. kasta
3. ^ a b c d e Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 332
4. ^ de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 303
5. ^ a b c d Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. kasta
6. ^ de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 342
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
8. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. NRA norr fragm 81 B
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog / A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, Copenhagen, onp.ku.dk (CC BY-SA 4.0), p. s.v. kasta
10. ^ a b c d e f g Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. kasta
11. ^ Faulkes, Anthony (2011), A New Introduction to Old Norse III: Glossary and Index of Names, 4th ed., London: Viking Society for Northern Research, p. s.v. kasta
12. ^ a b c d e Baetke, Walter (1965–1968), Wörterbuch zur altnordischen Prosaliteratur, Berlin (digital ed. Greifswald 2006), p. 319
13. ^ Hertzberg, Ebbe (1895), Glossarium, in Norges gamle Love indtil 1387, vol. 5, Christiania, p. 333
14. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
15. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
16. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 677 4to