cast

Reading level: medium

Estimated CEFR level: A2 — Elementary

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun the actors in a play
  2. noun container into which liquid is poured to create a given shape when it hardens
  3. noun the distinctive form in which a thing is made

Etymology

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.

In classic literature

Synonyms

cast of characters, dramatis personae

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