The spelling of the word "wast casualty" is rather peculiar. "Wast" is an archaic spelling of "was", while "casualty" refers to a person who has been killed or injured in a war or accident. The correct modern spelling would simply be "was casualty". The IPA phonetic transcription for "wast casualty" would be /wɑːst ˈkæʒuəlti/, with the stressed syllables marked in bold. Overall, the spelling of this phrase is an example of how language evolves and changes over time.
The term "wast casualty" does not have an established etymology as it appears to be a combination of two separate words that do not commonly appear together.
However, we can look at the origins of each component word separately:
1. "Wast": "Wast" is an archaic form of the word "waste". In Old English, "wast" referred to desolation, destruction, or loss. The word "waste" itself comes from the Old French word "wast", which means "waste" or "desert". The Old French word, in turn, originated from the Latin word "vastus", meaning "empty" or "waste".
2. "Casualty": In this context, casualty refers to a person who is injured or killed in an accident or a disaster.