cast English · revision 2890

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1200|origins=non kasta}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /kɑːst/, US /kæst/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|casten]],^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988) [[bor|non|kasta|t=to throw]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) a word of uncertain origin,^(Etymonline) related to Old Norse kǫs “heap”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) Merriam-Webster suggests a possible link with [[la|gerere|t=to bear, carry on]].^(MWU 2024) The noun comes partly from the verb and partly from Old Norse kast “a throw”.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To throw: probably before 1200, in the ''Ancrene Riwle'',^(Barnhart 1988) and about 1200 in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) The OED's first example is from about 1230.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the sense “to throw” it replaced Old English weorpan, the ancestor of [[warp]], and has itself been largely replaced by [[throw]], except of fishing lines and glances and in many special senses.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) From about 1300 it meant “to give out; to shed; to throw to the ground”, and also “to calculate, reckon”; to calculate astrologically is from the late 14th century.^(Etymonline) Casting metal in a mould is from the late 15th century,^(Etymonline) and to distribute the parts of a play among actors is from 1711.^(Etymonline) Of votes it is from 1840 in American English,^(Etymonline) or 1871 in the OED.^(OED 1989) The noun first meant “a throw”, especially of dice, which led to the figurative “chance, fortune”;^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) the idea of the form a thing takes once thrown gave the senses “arrangement, design, appearance, bearing”.^(Barnhart 1988) A tinge or shade of colour is from about 1600,^(Etymonline) and the actors of a play from the 1630s.^(Etymonline) The OED lists 42 noun senses and 83 verb senses.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1200 – verb, to throw.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1250 – noun, a throw.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1300 – to shed; to reckon.^(Etymonline)

+ * late 15th century – to shape in a mould.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1600 – a shade of colour.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1630s – the actors in a play.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1711 – to assign parts to actors.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1840 – to cast a vote.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[throw]] or fling: ''to cast a net''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To direct: ''to cast a glance'', ''to cast doubt''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To shed or throw off, as a snake its skin.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To give a vote.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To choose actors for a play or film, or a role for an actor.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To shape molten metal or plaster in a [[mould]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To add up or calculate; to draw up a [[horoscope]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An act of throwing, especially of a fishing line or dice.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The actors in a play or film.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # An object made in a mould; a rigid [[plaster]] case for a broken limb.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A slight tinge of colour.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Appearance, kind or quality: ''a cast of mind''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[castability]]

+ * [[castable]]

+ * [[broadcast]]

+ * [[colorcast]]

+ * [[caster]]

+ * [[casting]]

+ * [[downcast]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[castaway]]

+ * [[outcast]]

+ * [[forecast]]

+ * [[caste]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}