English
caster
Caster comes from English cast ‘to turn’, from Middle English casten ‘cast’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *kas- ‘to throw’.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kas-1‘to throw’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kastōną1‘to throw’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350kasta1‘to cast, to throw’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500casten1‘cast’
- English1500–presentcast1‘to turn’
- Englishearliest quotation 1860caster1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English caster
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1860, – October 13, Charles Dickens: “Your waiter having settled that point, returns to array…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kas-Wiktionary, English caster‘to throw’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kastōnąWiktionary, English caster‘to throw’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350kastaWiktionary, English caster‘to cast, to throw’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500castenWiktionary, English caster‘cast’
- English1500–presentcastWiktionary, English caster‘to turn’
- Englishearliest quotation 1860casterWiktionary, English caster. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1860, – October 13, Charles Dickens: “Your waiter having settled that point, returns to array…”
Formed from cast + -er
Proto-Germanic *kas- ‘to throw’
Proto-Germanic *kastōną ‘to throw’
Old Norse kasta ‘to throw’
Middle English casten
English cast
The story
From cast + -er; the wheel sense comes from obsolete cast (‘to turn’).
Linked words
through Proto-Germanic *kas- ‘to throw’
through Old Norse kasta ‘to cast, to throw’
Today it means
noun Someone or something that casts.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “caster”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *kas- / caster