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.
1
Of the eyes, a facial expression, etc.: looking downwards, usually as a sign of discouragement, sadness, etc., or sometimes modesty.
Briefly then heere Dido, with downe caſt phiſnomie, parled.1582, Virgil, “The Third Booke of Virgil His Aeneis”, in Richard Stanyhurst, transl., The First Foure Bookes of Virgils Æneis, […], London: […] Henrie Bynneman […], published 1583, →OCLC; republished as The First Four Books of the Æneid of Virgil, […], Edinburgh: [Edinburgh Printing Company], 1836, →OCLC, page 80:
[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.[1633], George Herbert, “The Church Militant”, in [Nicholas Ferrar], editor, The Temple. Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green, […], →OCLC, page 186:
4 more examples
'Tis Love, ſaid ſhe; and then my dovvn-caſt eyes, / And guilty dumbneſs, vvitneſs'd my ſurprize.1680, John Dryden, “Canace to Macareus”, in Ovid, Ovid’s Epistles, […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC, page 10:
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.1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Solomon on the Vanity of the World. A Poem in Three Books.”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […], →OCLC, page 502:
Suppreſs your ſigh, your dovvn-caſt eyelids raiſe, / VVhom preſent you revere, him abſent praiſe.a. 1722 (date written), Matthew Prior, “A Pastoral. To Dr. [Francis] Turner, Bishop of Ely, on His Departure from Cambridge.”, in The Poetical Works of Matthew Prior […], volume II, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan, […], published 1779, →OCLC, page 107:
[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; […]1743, Henry Fielding, “The History of the Life of the Late Mr. Jonathan Wild the Great. Chapter VIII. In which Our Hero Carries Greatness to an Immoderate Height.”, in Miscellanies, […], volume III, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book II, page 151:
2
Of a person or thing: cast or thrown to the ground.
VVhere liues all vvoe? conduct him to vs three, / The dovvne-caſt ruines of calamitie.1600 or 1601 (date written), I. M. [i.e., John Marston], Antonios Reuenge. The Second Part. […], London: […] [Richard Bradock] for Thomas Fisher, and are to be soulde [by Matthew Lownes] […], published 1602, →OCLC, Act V, scene vi, signature K4, recto:
[…] Dovvncaſt Lucifer revolves his State, / VVith his fall'n Angels ſits in Dark Debate, / And from This Conſtellation bodes his Fate.1691, N[ahum] Tate, A Poem, Occasioned by His Majesty’s Voyage to Holland, the Congress at the Hague, and Present Siege of Mons, London: […] Richard Baldwin, […], →OCLC, page 9:
3
Of a thing: directed downwards.
4
Figuratively Of a person: feeling despondent or discouraged.
His fine and lovely eyes were now lighted up with indignation, now subdued to downcast sorrow and quenched in infinite wretchedness.1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter VII, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume III, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC, page 155:
5
Figuratively Of a person or thing: defeated, overthrown; also, destroyed, ruined.
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.
1
Geography, Geology, Natural sciencesObsolete Synonym of downthrow (“a depression of the strata on one side of a fault; also, the degree of downward displacement in such a fault”).
a downcast dyke
downcast
verb
UK /daʊnˈkɑːst/ · US /ˌdaʊnˈkæst/
Etymology From Middle English doun-casten, *adoun-casten (“to cast or throw (something) downwards; 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.]”): see etymology 1. The English word is analysable as down- (prefix meaning ‘lower direction or position’) + cast (“to throw”, verb).
To turn (the eyes) downwards, usually as a sign of discouragement, sadness, etc., or sometimes modesty.
2
To cast or throw (something) downwards; also, to drop or lower (something).
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!1838 October, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Midnight Mass for the Dying Year”, in Voices of the Night, Cambridge, Mass.: […] John Owen, published 1839, →OCLC, stanza 12, page 30:
3
To demolish or tear down (a building, etc.).
4
Figuratively To make (someone) feel despondent or discouraged; to discourage, to sadden.
5
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences To cast (“change the expression of”) (a data type) from supertype to subtype.
6
Scotland To reproach or upbraid (someone); also, to taunt (someone).
7
Obsolete To depose or overthrow (a leader, an institution, etc.); also (sometimes reflexive), to bring down (oneself or someone) from an exalted position; to humble.
Etymology From Middle English downcast (“misfortune”), adoun-cast (“destruction, overthrow”), from adoun (“downward”) + cast (“a throw, a cast”) (from Old Norse kast (“a throw”), from kasten (“to cast, throw”)), from Middle English casten adoun: see etymology 1. The English word is analysable as down- (prefix meaning ‘lower direction or position’) + cast (“act of throwing”, noun).
1
An act of looking downwards, usually as a sign of discouragement, sadness, etc., or sometimes modesty; hence (uncountable, archaic), dejection, melancholy.
[C]ome lets be ſad my girles, / That dovvne caſt of thine eye Olimpias, / Shovves a faind ſorrovv; […]c. 1608–1611 (date written), [Francis Beaumont; John Fletcher], The Maides Tragedy. […], London: […] [Nicholas Okes] for Francis Constable […], published 1619, →OCLC, Act II, signature E, recto:
I ſavv the reſpectful Dovvncaſt of his Eye, vvhen you catcht him gazing at you during the Muſick: He, I vvarrant, vvas ſurpriz'd, as if he had been taken ſtealing your VVatch. O! the undiſſembled Guilty Look!1722, Richard Steele, The Conscious Lovers. A Comedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson […], published 1723, →OCLC, Act II, scene i, page 37:
1 more example
And at every such aid, there was a smile to pay; not to mention the downcast of eyes sometimes, and sometimes their uplifting with a soft, sweet light, and the fluttering of lashes in the fresh wind from the sea, and the murmuring of lips, more pink and melodious than any clear Pacific shell.1884, [Richard Doddridge Blackmore], “On the Rocks”, in The Remarkable History of Sir Thomas Upmore, […], volume II, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, […], →OCLC, page 66:
2
Archaic An act, or the situation, of being cast or thrown to the ground.
3
Archaic, Figuratively A defeat, an overthrow; also, an act of destruction or ruin.
4
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences A cast (“change of expression of a data type”) from supertype to subtype.
5
Business, Mining A ventilating shaft down which air passes in circulating through a mine.