Meaning

noun a confused multitude of things

noun a stifling cloud of smoke

verb envelop completely

originFrom Middle English smothren, smortheren, alteration (due to smother, smorther (“a suffocating vapour, dense smoke”, noun)) of Middle English smoren (“to smother”), from Old English smorian (“to smother, suffocate, choke”), from Proto-Germanic *smurōną (“to suffocate, strangle”), probably related to *smallijan (“to burn”) or Old English smoca (“smoke”). Cognate with Middle Low German smoren,…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0