mist

¹

[ mist ]

noun

1. a cloudlike aggregation of minute globules of water suspended in the atmosphere at or near the earth's surface, reducing visibility to a lesser degree than fog.
2. a cloud of particles resembling this:

   She sprayed a mist of perfume onto her handkerchief.

3. something that dims, obscures, or blurs:

   the mist of ignorance.

4. a haze before the eyes that dims the vision:

   a mist of tears.

5. a suspension of a liquid in a gas.
6. a drink of liquor served over cracked ice.
7. a fine spray produced by a vaporizer to add moisture to the air for breathing.

verb (used without object)

1. to become misty.
2. to rain in very fine drops; drizzle (usually used impersonally with it as subject):

   It was misting when they went out for lunch.

verb (used with object)

1. to make misty.
2. to spray (plants) with a finely diffused jet of water, as a means of replacing lost moisture.

mist.

²

abbreviation for

1. (in prescriptions) a mixture.

mist

/ mɪst /

noun

1. a thin fog resulting from condensation in the air near the earth's surface
2. meteorol such an atmospheric condition with a horizontal visibility of 1–2 kilometres
3. a fine spray of any liquid, such as that produced by an aerosol container
4. chem a colloidal suspension of a liquid in a gas
5. condensed water vapour on a surface that blurs the surface
6. something that causes haziness or lack of clarity, such as a film of tears

verb

1. to cover or be covered with or as if with mist

mist

/ mĭst /

1. A mass of fine droplets of water in the atmosphere near or in contact with the Earth. Mist reduces visibility to not less than 1 km (0.62 mi).
2. Compare fog

Other Words From

• mistless adjective
• de·mist verb (used with object)
• under·mist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of mist¹

First recorded before 900; (noun) Middle English, Old English; cognate with Dutch, Low German, Swedish mist; akin to Greek omíchlē “fog,” Russian mgla “mist,” Sanskrit megha “cloud”; (verb) Middle English misten, Old English mistian, derivative of the noun

Origin of mist²

From the Latin word mistūra

Word History and Origins

Origin of mist¹

Old English; related to Middle Dutch, Swedish mist, Greek omikhlē fog

Synonym Study

See cloud.

Example Sentences

The fellow-traveler organizations surround the totalitarian movements with a mist of normality and respectability that fools the membership about the true character of the outside world as much as it does the outside world about the true character of the movement.

From Salon

Mist, fog, low cloud and a distinct lack of sunshine seems to be the norm so far this month.

From BBC

The moisture forms low cloud, mist and fog, which then cannot lift and clear as the winds are so light and the sunshine at this time of year is so weak.

From BBC

He says it could be caused by fallen leaves "or sometimes you get very strange combinations of mist and rain that can end up creating a bit of an oily surface on top of the rail head and that’s extremely slippery".

From BBC

The phenomenon is called a Brocken spectre, which the Met Office describes as "a large shadow of an observer cast onto cloud or mist", named after the German mountain on which it was first noted in 1780.

From BBC

Related Words

• cloud
• dew
• drizzle
• fog
• moisture
• rain
• smog
• steam