mist
verbEtymology
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, from Old English mistian.
To form mist.
- It's misting this morning.
To spray fine droplets on, particularly of water.
- I mist my tropical plants every morning.
To rain in very fine droplets.
- ... it's misting outside. When it mists outside it's half fog and half rain.1996, Don McCabe, Word Families in Sentence Context, AVKO Foundation, →ISBN, page 235:
- On this particular early morning , with a bitter cold rain misting down, Seminov was reaching the end of his endurance.2013 April 2, Don Pendleton, Nuclear Intent, Gold Eagle, →ISBN, page 238:
1 more example
- ... rain misting outside from thick clouds.2023 November 20, Jack Canfield, Chicken Soup for the Soul Series: The Power of Positive: 101 Inspirational Stories about Changing Your Life through Positive Thinking, Jaico Publishing House, →ISBN, page 25:
To cover with a mist.
- The lens was misted.
- her breath will mist or staine the stonec. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]:
Of the eyes To be covered by tears.
- My eyes misted when I remembered what had happened.
Media, Printing, Publishing Of ink To disperse into a mist, accompanying operation of equipment at high speeds.