Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

mist

/mɪst/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.67 in modern English

Syllables
mist
IPA
/mɪst/
6
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Water or other liquid finely suspended in air. (Compare fog, haze.)

Countable; Uncountable

noun

A layer of fine droplets or particles.

Countable

noun

Anything that dims, darkens, or hinders vision.

Countable; Uncountable

verb

To form mist.

Intransitive verb

verb

To spray fine droplets on, particularly of water.

Transitive verb

verb

To rain in very fine droplets.

Intransitive verb

verb

To cover with a mist.

Transitive verb

verb

To be covered by tears.

Transitive verb

Example Sentences

Etymology

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.

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: mist, *mihstaz, misten, mistian

Usage

Inflected Forms

Derived Forms

Phrases

Frequently Paired Words

Synonyms

Homonyms

Rhymes With

Questions

How do you pronounce mist?
The recorded pronunciation is /mɪst/.
What does mist mean?
Water or other liquid finely suspended in air. (Compare fog, haze.)
Where does mist come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce mist

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “mist”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/mɪst/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “mist”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “mist” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.