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fog 1 (fôg, fŏg)
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n.
1. Condensed water vapor in cloudlike masses lying close to the ground and limiting visibility.
2.
a. An obscuring haze, as of atmospheric dust or smoke.
b. A mist or film clouding a surface, as of a window, lens, or mirror.
3. A cloud of vaporized liquid, especially a chemical spray used in fighting fires.
4.
a. A state of mental vagueness or bewilderment.
b. Something that obscures or conceals; a haze: shrouded their actions in a fog of disinformation.
5. A blur on a developed photographic image.
v. fogged, fog·ging, fogs
v.tr.
1. To cover or envelop with fog.
2. To cause to be obscured; cloud.
3. To make vague, hazy, or confused: a memory that had been fogged by time.
4. To obscure or dim (a photographic image).
v.intr.
1. To be covered with fog.
2. To be blurred, clouded, or obscured: My glasses fogged in the warm air.
3. To be dimmed or obscured. Used of a photographic image.
[Perhaps of Scandinavian origin.]
fogger n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
fog 2 (fôg, fŏg)
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n.
1. A new growth of grass appearing on a field that has been mowed or grazed.
2. Tall, coarse grass left standing in fields through the winter.
[Middle English fogge, tall grass; see p- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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