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Origin and history of casting

casting(n.)

c. 1300, "a throwing," verbal noun from cast (v.). From early 15c. as "the casting of metal, the act or process of founding;" 1788 as "a metal casting, that which has been formed by running molten metal into a mold of a desired form." The theatrical sense is from 1814; casting couch "divan in a Hollywood casting directors office," with suggestion of sexual favors in exchange for a role in a picture is by 1948.

also from c. 1300

Entries linking to casting

cast(v.)

c. 1200, "throw, throw violently, fling, hurl," from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse kasta "to throw" (cognate with Swedish kasta, Danish kaste, North Frisian kastin), a word of uncertain origin.

The meaning "to form in a mold" is late 15c. In the sense of "to throw" it replaced Old English weorpan (see warp (v.)), and itself largely has been superseded by throw, though cast still is used of fishing lines (17c.) and glances (13c.).

From c. 1300 as "emit, give out;" also "throw to the ground;" also "shed or throw off;" also "calculate, find by reckoning; chart (a course)." From late 14c. as "to calculate astrologically." From late 15c. as "bring forth abortively or prematurely." From 1711 as "distribute the parts (of a play) among the actors." Of votes, from 1840, American English. To cast up is from 1530s as "compute, reckon" (accounts, etc.), late 15c. as "eject, vomit."

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    font
    "complete set of characters of a particular face and size of printing type," 1680s (also fount); earlier "a casting" (1570s...); from French fonte "a casting," noun use of fem. past participle of fondre "to melt," from Latin fundere (past participle...
    dejection
    humiliation;" c. 1500, "state of being depressed or in low spirits," from Old French dejection "abjection, depravity; a casting...The literal sense "act of casting down" (1680s) is rare in English....
    Fronde
    1798, from French fronde (14c.), "sling," from Old French fonde "sling, catapult," from Latin funda "a sling; dragnet, casting-net...to the party which rose against Mazarin and the court during the minority of Louis XIV, supposedly from the use of stone-casting...
    conjectural
    coniecturalis "belonging to conjecture," from coniectura "a conclusion, interpretation, guess, inference," literally "a casting...
    retroactive
    "casting or relating back," from Latin retroact-, past-participle stem of retroagere "drive or turn back," from retro "back...
    hyperbole
    hyperbole "exaggeration, extravagance," literally "a throwing beyond," from hyper- "beyond" (see hyper-) + bole "a throwing, a casting...
    abjection
    abjection (14c.), from Latin abiectionem (nominative abiectio) "dejection, despondency," literally "a throwing away, a casting...
    swan
    large, web-footed swimming bird, stately and graceful in the water, noted for its long neck and white down; Old English swan "swan," from Proto-Germanic *swanaz "singer" (source also of Old Saxon swan, Old Norse svanr, Danish svane, Swedish svan, Middle Dutch swane, Dutch zwaan,
    eliminate
    1560s, "to thrust out, remove, throw out of doors," from Latin eliminatus, past participle of eliminare "thrust out of doors, expel," from ex limine "off the threshold," from ex "off, out" (see ex-) + limine, ablative of limen "threshold" (see limit (n.)). Used literally at first
    travel
    late 14c., "to journey," from travailen (1300) "to make a journey," originally "to toil, labor" (see travail). The semantic development may have been via the notion of "go on a difficult journey," but it also may reflect the difficulty of any journey in the Middle Ages. Replaced

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