misty

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English misti,^[2] inherited from Old English mistig (“misty, covered with mist”),^[3][4][5][6] formed from mist and the suffix -ig,^[3][4] that is, mist and -y.^[7] Etymonline thinks the Middle English word was perhaps formed afresh from the noun.^[8] It has close parallels in West Frisian mistich, Middle Dutch mistich, Dutch mistig and Middle Low German mistich.^[7] Mist goes back to Proto-Germanic *mihstaz,^[9][8] perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *meigh- (“to urinate”).^[8] The obsolete sense "obscure, hard to understand" was perhaps partly an extended use of a separate Middle English adjective meaning "mystical", modelled on Latin mysticus.^[7][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Clouded by or covered with mist: an Old English gloss in the Durham Ritual renders the Latin super montem caliginosum "over the misty moor",^[7][5] and Beowulf speaks of mistige moras, misty moors.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the word was used from the mid-14th century of air or places filled with mist,^[8][2] and then, from about 1400, figuratively for "obscure, hard to understand", as in Piers Plowman, a sense that lasted until 1755.^[7][2] The OED notes that this may partly come from the separate adjective meaning "mystical", recorded from before 1382 to 1570.^[7] From the early 16th century misty also described minds not lit by reason or truth.^[7] Johnson (1755) defined it as "clouded; overspread with mists", quoting Spenser.^[10] The eyes became misty with tears in 1582,^[7] and since 1957, in American use, a person could be misty, tearful or sentimental.^[7] Ann Radcliffe used it in 1797 of shapes that look shrouded in mist; since 1816 it described vague or confused thoughts and memories.^[7]

Timeline

• Old English – mistig, covered with mist.^[7][5]
• before 1350 – Middle English misty, of the air.^[2]
• c. 1400 – obscure, hard to understand (obsolete by 1755).^[7][2]
• c. 1485 – clouded with fine particles like mist.^[7]
• 1582 – of the eyes, blurred with tears.^[7]
• 1797 – indistinct in outline, as if shrouded in mist.^[7]
• 1816 – of thoughts or memories, vague.^[7]
• 1957 – of a person, tearful, sentimental (US).^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Full of, covered by or consisting of mist: a misty morning in the hills.^[11][3][7]
2. Blurred or indistinct, as if seen through mist: the misty outline of the far shore.^[11][3][7]
3. Vague or unclear in the mind: misty memories of childhood.^[11][7]
4. Of the eyes, blurred with tears; of a person, tearful or sentimental.^[7][6]
5. (obsolete, 1400–1755) Obscure; hard to understand.^[7][2]

Word family

• mistily
• mistiness
• misty-eyed

Related words

• mist
• mystic

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins