A.Word.A.Day --zarf

A.Word.A.Day

About | Media | Search | Contact

Home

Today's Word

Archives

Nov 5, 2020

This week’s theme
Borrowed words

This week’s words
cushy
pogonip
pishogue
zarf
picaro

A traditional zarf, made of silver, Russia

Photo: Obrez / Wikimedia

A modern zarf, made of reclaimed coffee sack, Seattle

Photo: Alexa Baehr

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

zarf

PRONUNCIATION:

(zarf)

MEANING:

noun: A sleeve or holder designed to hold a hot cup.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Arabic zarf (container, sheath). Earliest documented use: 1836.

USAGE:

“He brought steaming conical cups in plastic zarfs, two by two, to the craving, sobering hands all around him.”
Jonathan Franzen; The Twenty-Seventh City; Farrar, Straus, and Giroux; 1988.

See more usage examples of zarf in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

So many gods, so many creeds, So many paths that wind and wind, While just the art of being kind is all the sad world needs. -Ella Wheeler Wilcox, poet (5 Nov 1850-1919)

We need your help

Help us continue to spread the magic of words to readers everywhere

Donate

Subscriber Services
Awards | Stats | Links | Privacy Policy
Contribute | Advertise