mist

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A thin cloud of tiny water drops in the air that makes it hard to see.

   It was difficult to see through the morning mist.

2. 2
   verb

   To become covered with a thin layer of tiny water drops.

   The windshield misted over in the cold.

3. 3
   verb

   To spray something with fine drops of water.

   I mist my plants every morning to keep them healthy.

The noun is from Middle English mist, from Old English mist (“mist; darkness; dimness (of eyesight)”), from Proto-Germanic *mihstaz (“mist, fog”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃migʰstos, from the root *h₃meygʰ- (“cloud, fog, drizzle”). Cognate with Scots mist (“mist, fog”), West Frisian mist (“mist”), Dutch mist (“mist”), Swedish mist (“mist, fog”), Icelandic mistur (“mist”), West Frisian miegelje (“to drizzle”), Dutch dialectal miggelen, miegelen (“to drizzle”), Lithuanian miglà (“fog”), Sanskrit मेघ (megha, “cloud”), Russian мгла (mgla, “fog, haze”). The verb is from Middle English misten, fro…

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