downcast

downcast

English

Etymology

From Middle English *doun-casten, *adoun-casten (inferred from Middle English adoun-casting (“downcasting”), adoun-cast (“overthrow, destruction”)), modelled similarly to other constructions in Middle English (namely, Middle English adoun-throwen (“to throw down”), adoun-werpen (“to throw down”)), equivalent to down- +‎ cast.

Pronunciation

• (adjective, noun)
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdaʊnkæst/
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdaʊnkɑːst/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• (verb)
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /daʊnˈkæst/
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /daʊnˈkɑːst/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

  • Rhymes: (General American) -æst, (Received Pronunciation) -ɑːst

Adjective

downcast (comparative more downcast, superlative most downcast)

1. (of eyes) Looking downwards.
   • 1717, John Dryden, Canace to Macareus:

     'Tis love, said she; and then my downcast eyes, / And guilty dumbness, witness'd my surprise.

2. (of a person) Feeling despondent.

Translations

looking downwards

Bulgarian: сведен (bg) (sveden) (очи) Finnish: alas luotu German: niedergeschlagen (de) Latvian: lejup, zemup Maori: tapou

feeling despondent

Bulgarian: отчаян (bg) (otčajan) Catalan: abatut (ca), aixafat (ca), moix (ca), alacaigut (ca) Dutch: neergeslagen (nl), moedeloos (nl) Finnish: alakuloinen (fi), allapäin (fi), apea (fi) German: niedergeschlagen (de), geknickt (de), entmutigt (de) Greek: Ancient: κατηφής (katēphḗs) Icelandic: gneypur Italian: abbattuto (it) Latin: dēiectus Maori: hākerekere, tapou, tūreikura Norwegian: nedtrykt Romagnol: abatù Sanskrit: खिन्न (sa) (khinna) Scottish Gaelic: brònach Spanish: alicaído (es), abatido (es) Welsh: pendrwm, pendrist, penisel (cy), trist (cy), digalon (cy)

Noun

downcast (plural downcasts)

1. (computing) A cast from supertype to subtype.
2. (obsolete) A melancholy look.
   • 1619, Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, The Maid's Tragedy

     That downcast of thine eye.

3. (mining) A ventilating shaft down which the air passes in circulating through a mine.

Verb

downcast (third-person singular simple present downcasts, present participle downcasting, simple past and past participle downcast or downcasted)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To cast or throw down; to turn downward.
2. (transitive, Scotland) To taunt; to reproach; to upbraid.
3. (transitive, computing) To cast from supertype to subtype.

   Antonym: upcast

Anagrams

• cast down