cast

cast · verb, noun, adjective¹

1. Proto-Germanic*kas-
2. Proto-Germanic*kastōną
3. Old Norsekasta
4. Middle Englishcasten
5. English todaycast

From Middle English casten, from Old Norse kasta (“to throw, cast, overturn”), from Proto-Germanic *kastōną (“to throw, cast”), of unknown origin. Cognate with Scots cast (“to cast, throw”), Danish kaste (“to throw”), Swedish kasta (“to throw, cast, fling, toss, discard”), Icelandic kasta (“to pitch, toss”). In the sense of "flinging", displaced native warp. The senses relating to broadcasting are based on that same term; compare -cast.

Cast · proper noun²

1. Old French · derived fromchaste“chaste”
2. Latin · derived fromcastra“fortification”
3. English todayCast

* As a German surname, Americanized from Kast. * As an English surname, variant of Cass. * As a French surname, from Cast, Finistère in Brittany, ultimately from Latin castra (“fortification”). Sometimes also a variant of Caste, from Old French chaste (“chaste”).

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 13th c. To throw.
• from 14th c. To throw forward (a fishing line, net etc.) into the sea.
• from 15th c. To throw down or aside.
• from 15th c. To throw off (the skin) as a process of growth; to shed the hair or fur of the coat.
• from 14th c. To remove, take off (clothes).
• from 13th c. To direct (one's eyes, gaze etc.).
• from 14th c. To add up (a column of figures, accounts etc.); cross-cast refers to adding up a row of figures.
• from 14th c. To calculate the astrological value of (a horoscope, birth etc.).