mist
n. C / Un. a thin cloud of very small water drops in the air. It is similar to fog but not as thick, making it slightly difficult to see through.
n. a mass of fine droplets of water vapour suspended in the atmosphere near the earth's surface. It reduces visibility to a lesser extent than fog, typically allowing visibility of more than one kilometre.
The morning mist covers the lake.
A light mist hung over the valley as the sun began to rise, making the trees look like shadows.
The photographer waited for the early morning mist to partially clear, hoping to capture the ethereal quality of the sunlight filtering through the damp air.
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.
Uncountable when referring to the weather phenomenon in general; countable when describing a specific occurrence or a spray of liquid.