What is this icy coating that forms on cold mornings called?

Frost is the icy coating that forms on cold mornings, covering grass and car windows in a thin, sparkly white layer. It forms when tiny water droplets or water vapor in the air freeze directly into ice crystals on cold surfaces overnight, building up that delicate crystal pattern by morning.

Dew is just liquid water that condenses on cool surfaces overnight without freezing, so it stays wet rather than icy, while hail is made of hard ice balls that fall from storm clouds during a thunderstorm, a completely different weather event from a calm cold morning.

If you look closely at frost with a magnifying glass, you can often see beautiful branching ice crystal patterns, since frost forms in the same delicate hexagonal shapes that make snowflakes so intricate.