Overcast

Overcast

Adjective / Verb / Noun · /ˈəʊ.və.kɑːst/

Definition

(Adjective) (of the sky or weather) covered with grey cloud; cloudy and dull — the sky is overcast. (Verb, sewing) to sew over a raw edge to prevent fraying; (archaic) to cast over — to cover, to overspread. (Noun) a cloud layer covering the sky; in meteorology, the condition of complete cloud cover (8 oktas).

Origin

From over- (above, covering) + cast (to throw — from Old Norse kasta, to throw). Overcast therefore meaning cast or thrown over — something spread over everything. The meteorological sense being from the idea of cloud being cast over the sky like a blanket thrown over it. The sewing sense — to overcast a seam — being from the same idea of casting thread over and over a raw edge. The word appearing in English from the fourteenth century.