The hot gas that water turns into when it boils; it looks like a white mist.
From Old English “steam,” meaning vapor or breath. It goes back to Proto-Germanic roots related to rising fumes or smoke.
Real steam is actually invisible—what you see as white “steam” is water droplets when the vapor cools down. For centuries, steam power ran factories, trains, and ships, turning boiling water into world‑changing energy.
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