Recasts

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To remake or reshape something, such as metal or a text, into a new form ; to replace an actor or rerecord a role in a production
2. To form again or alter the structure of an object or idea ; to assign a new actor or redo a part in a film or play
3. To create a different version by modifying or reshaping an original ; to recast a character or scene by substituting performers or redoing the performance

Etymology: "Recasts" is the third-person singular form of "recast", so the story belongs to the verb itself. Its core is "cast", which came into English from Old Norse "kasta", meaning "to throw", and that verb had a Germanic root reaching back to the same sense of hurling or tossing. Middle English "casten" carried this sense of throwing, and it later spread to the idea of throwing something into a mould, which explains why a metal object is "cast" and why a play's roles are "cast" by being thrown out to actors. The prefix "re-" comes from Latin, where it meant "again" or "back", and it reached English through Old French. Joined to "cast", it gives the basic sense of throwing or shaping something anew. The theatrical use, giving a role to a different actor, is a natural extension of the casting of parts, while the sense of reshaping an object or idea follows the older metalworking meaning of pouring material into a fresh mould.

Synonyms: revisions, redrafts, revisions, adaptations