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.

Adjective

downcast (comparative more downcast, superlative most downcast)

1. (of eyes) Looking downwards.
   • (Can we date this quote by Dryden and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

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

2. (of a person) Feeling despondent.

Translations

looking downwards

• Finnish: alas luotu
• German: niedergeschlagen (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latvian: lejup, zemup
• Maori: tapou

feeling despondent

• 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
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latin: dēiectus
• Maori: hākerekere, tapou, tūreikura
• Norwegian: nedtrykt
• Scottish Gaelic: brònach
• Spanish: alicaído (es), abatido (es)

Noun

downcast (plural downcasts)

1. (computing) A cast from supertype to subtype.
2. (obsolete) A melancholy look.
   • (Can we date this quote by Beaumont and Fletcher and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     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