outcast
UK[ˈaʊtkɑːst]US[ˈaʊtkæst]
n
A person who has been rejected or ostracized by their society or social group.
adj
Rejected or cast out.
Morpheme Breakdown
out
cast
out
cast
Etymology
The word 'outcast' is a transparent compound from Middle English, formed by combining the native English adverb 'out' with the verb 'cast', which was borrowed from Old Norse. Its literal, physical meaning of "one who is thrown out" or "cast out" is directly preserved from its constituent parts. Over time, this concrete sense evolved into the modern, more abstract social meaning of a person rejected or excluded from a community. The logic of the word remains perfectly clear: to be an outcast is to have been figuratively thrown out of a group.
Analysis
Structure: out + cast
- out (Old English 'ūt'): A word-forming element meaning "outward, external, away, forth."
- cast (Old Norse 'kasta'): A verb meaning "to throw."
Examples
After the scandal, he lived as a social outcast.
She felt like an outcast among her new classmates.
The outcast tribe settled in the remote mountains.