mist
[mist]
- 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.
- a cloud of particles resembling this: She sprayed a mist of perfume onto her handkerchief.
- something that dims, obscures, or blurs: the mist of ignorance.
- a haze before the eyes that dims the vision: a mist of tears.
- a suspension of a liquid in a gas.
- a drink of liquor served over cracked ice.
- a fine spray produced by a vaporizer to add moisture to the air for breathing.
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- to become misty.
- to rain in very fine drops; drizzle (usually used impersonally with it as subject): It was misting when they went out for lunch.
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- to make misty.
- to spray (plants) with a finely diffused jet of water, as a means of replacing lost moisture.
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Origin of mist
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; (v.) Middle English misten, Old English mistian, derivative of the noun
Synonyms
3, 4. See cloud.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
demist
- to free or become free of condensation through evaporation produced by a heater and/or blower
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mist
- a thin fog resulting from condensation in the air near the earth's surface
- meteorol such an atmospheric condition with a horizontal visibility of 1–2 kilometres
- a fine spray of any liquid, such as that produced by an aerosol container
- chem a colloidal suspension of a liquid in a gas
- condensed water vapour on a surface that blurs the surface
- something that causes haziness or lack of clarity, such as a film of tears
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- to cover or be covered with or as if with mist
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Word Origin
Old English; related to Middle Dutch, Swedish mist, Greek omikhlē fog
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for demist
mist
n.
Old English mist "dimness (of eyesight), mist" (earliest in compounds, such as misthleoðu "misty cliffs," wælmist "mist of death"), from Proto-Germanic *mikhstaz (cf. Middle Low German mist, Dutch mist, Icelandic mistur, Norwegian and Swedish mist), perhaps from PIE *meigh- "to urinate" (cf. Greek omikhle, Old Church Slavonic migla, Sanskrit mih, megha "cloud, mist;" see micturition).
Sometimes distinguished from fog, either as being less opaque or as consisting of drops large enough to have a perceptible downward motion. [OED]
Also in Old English in sense of "dimness of the eyes, either by illness or tears," and in figurative sense of "things that obscure mental vision."
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mist
v.
Old English mistian "to become misty, to be or grow misty;" see mist (n.). Meaning "To cover with mist" is early 15c. Related: Misted; misting.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
mist
[mĭst]
- 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). Compare fog.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.