fog

Meaning

Noun

1. (uncountable) A thick cloud that forms near the ground; the obscurity of such a cloud.
2. (uncountable) A mist or film clouding a surface.
3. (countable, figuratively, uncountable) A state of mind characterized by lethargy and confusion.
4. (countable, uncountable) A silver deposit or other blur on a negative or developed photographic image.
5. (countable, uncountable) Distance fog.

Verb

1. (intransitive) To become covered with or as if with fog.
2. (intransitive) To become obscured in condensation or water.
3. (intransitive) To become dim or obscure.
4. (transitive) To make dim or obscure.
5. (transitive) To spoil (film) via exposure to light other than in the normal process of taking a photograph.
6. (transitive) To cover with or as if with fog.
7. (transitive) To disperse insecticide into (a forest canopy) so as to collect organisms.
8. (transitive) To obscure in condensation or water.
9. (transitive) To make confusing or obscure.

Verb

1. (transitive) To pasture cattle on the fog (of), or aftergrass, of; to eat off the fog from (a field).
2. (intransitive) To become covered with the kind of grass called fog.

Verb

To practice in a small or mean way; to pettifog.

Synonyms

mist

haze

cloud

☁️

dew

smoke

steam

vapor

befog

obscure

vapour

smog

daze

blur

becloud

dim

drizzle

haze over

obnubilate

brume

murkiness

clouds

☁️

fogginess

murk

breeze

billabong

pall

cover

befuddle

fine spray

reek

misty

nebula

obfuscate

obfuscation

shade

blurry

blurriness

smudge

spray

stupor

bedim

veil

water vapor

become blurred

mild weather

soft grass

brune

darken

atmosphere pollution

dusty

Translations

brouillard

🌫️

Nebel

🌫️

nebbia

🌫️

niebla

🌫️

brume

mist

🌫️

neblina

🌫️

nevel

🌫️

boira

🌫️

neblina

🌫️

ομίχλη

ضباب

🌫️

nevoeiro

🌫️

nebula

🌫️

Pronounced as (IPA)

/fɒɡ/

Etymology

Cognate with Icelandic: fok

Cognate with Icelandic: fjúka

Cognate with German: fauchen

Inherited from Middle English: fogge

Cognate with Norwegian: fogg

Cognate with Scots: fog

In summary

Origin uncertain; but probably of North Germanic origin. Probably either a back-formation from foggy (“covered with tall grass; thick, marshy”), from the earlier-attested fog (“tall grass”) (see below), or from or related to Danish fog (“spray, shower, drift, storm”), related to Icelandic fok (“spray, any light thing tossed by the wind, snowdrift”), Icelandic fjúka (“to blow, drive”), from Proto-Germanic *feukaną (“to whisk, blow”), from Proto-Indo-European *pug- (“billow, bulge, drift”), from *pew-, *pow- (“to blow, drift, billow”), in which case related to German fauchen (“to hiss, spit, spray”).