downcast
Part of speech: adj
verb
Morphological type: derivation
Topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
Etymology: The adjective is derived from Middle English doun-casten, *adoun-casten (“(adjective) cast down, dejected; (verb) to break down (something); to overcome (someone); to overturn (something)”), from down (“in a downward direction; (figurative) to destruction”), adoun (“downward”) + casten (“to throw (something), fling, hurl; to overcome (someone), defeat, overpower; [etc.]”) (from Old Norse kasta (“to cast, throw”), from Proto-Germanic *kastōną (“to throw”), from *kas- (“to throw, toss; to bring up”); further etymology uncertain), modelled similarly to other constructions in Middle English such as adoun-throwen (“to throw down”) and adoun-werpen (“to throw down”)). The English word is analysable as down- (prefix meaning ‘lower direction or position’) + cast (“that has been thrown”, adjective).
The noun is derived from the adjective.
Base: cast
Affixes: down-
Inflected forms:
form: more downcast
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: most downcast
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: downcasts
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: downcasting
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: downcast
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: downcast
pos: verb
tags: past
form: downcasted
pos: verb
tags: common
error-unknown-tag
participle
past
proscribed
sometimes
form: downcasted
pos: verb
tags: common
error-unknown-tag
past
proscribed
sometimes
Senses:
gloss: Of the eyes, a facial expression, etc.: looking downwards, usually as a sign of discouragement, sadness, etc., or sometimes modesty.
pos: adj
examples: Briefly then heere Dido, with downe caſt phiſnomie, parled.
[A]s before Empire and Arts made vvay, / (For no leſſe Harbingers vvould ſerve then they) / So they might ſtill, and point us out the place / VVhere firſt the Church ſhould raiſe her dovvn-caſt face.
'Tis Love, ſaid ſhe; and then my dovvn-caſt eyes, / And guilty dumbneſs, vvitneſs'd my ſurprize.
VVhile Thy abandon'd Tribes ſhall only knovv / A diff'rent Maſter, and a Change of VVoe: / VVith dovvn-caſt Eye-lids, and vvith Looks a-ghaſt, / Shall dread the Future, or bevvail the Paſt.
Suppreſs your ſigh, your dovvn-caſt eyelids raiſe, / VVhom preſent you revere, him abſent praiſe.
[T]hat dovvn-caſt Countenance vvhich betrays the Man, vvho, after a ſtrong Conflict betvveen Virtue and Vice, hath ſurrendered his Mind to the latter, and is diſcovered in his firſt Treachery; […]
And yet I should have dearly liked, I own, to have touched her lips; to have questioned her, that she might have opened them; to have looked upon the lashes of her downcast eyes, and never raised a blush; […]
But Gordon's downcast mien did not change; and I had to admit myself, when supper-time came, that one might almost as hopelessly have sopped the Matterhorn as the loaf.
gloss: Of a person or thing: cast or thrown to the ground.
pos: adj
examples: VVhere liues all vvoe? conduct him to vs three, / The dovvne-caſt ruines of calamitie.
[…] Dovvncaſt Lucifer revolves his State, / VVith his fall'n Angels ſits in Dark Debate, / And from This Conſtellation bodes his Fate.
gloss: Of a thing: directed downwards.
pos: adj
gloss: Of a person: feeling despondent or discouraged.
pos: adj
tags: figuratively
examples: His fine and lovely eyes were now lighted up with indignation, now subdued to downcast sorrow and quenched in infinite wretchedness.
gloss: Of a person or thing: defeated, overthrown; also, destroyed, ruined.
pos: adj
tags: figuratively
gloss: To turn (the eyes) downwards, usually as a sign of discouragement, sadness, etc., or sometimes modesty.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
gloss: To cast or throw (something) downwards; also, to drop or lower (something).
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: For there shall come a mightier blast, / There shall be a darker day; / And the stars, from heaven down-cast, / Like red leaves be swept away!
gloss: To demolish or tear down (a building, etc.).
pos: verb
tags: transitive
gloss: To make (someone) feel despondent or discouraged; to discourage, to sadden.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
transitive
gloss: To cast (“change the expression of”) (a data type) from supertype to subtype.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
gloss: To reproach or upbraid (someone); also, to taunt (someone).
pos: verb
tags: Scotland
transitive
gloss: To depose or overthrow (a leader, an institution, etc.); also (sometimes reflexive), to bring down (oneself or someone) from an exalted position; to humble.
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
transitive
Related words: cast down
Derived words: downcastly
downcastness
downcasting
Translations: