means A thin haze of tiny water droplets suspended near the ground that softens and obscures the view, like a faint, gentler fog.

from From Old English 'mist,' meaning a dimness or gloom of the air. It belongs to an old Germanic family — a cousin of Dutch 'mist' and related to words like Old Norse 'mistr.' Linguists trace it back further to a root suggesting 'to make wet' or 'urinate,' the same ancient source thought to lie behind Greek 'omikhle' (mist) and Sanskrit 'megha' (cloud) — so its deepest sense is simply moisture clouding the air.