It's the word of the day for February 4th.

Today's word is Zafting, spelled Z-A-F-T-I-G.

Zafting is an adjective.

Someone described as Zafting has a full-rounded figure, or in other words, is

pleasingly plump. Here's the word used in a sentence from the New York Times by Deborah Solomon.

Pablo Picasso produced an estimated 13,500 paintings, in addition to astounding quantities of drawings,

prints, sculptures, and ceramics.

He veered between opposite poles of abstraction and realism,

between the gaunt poetic figures of his blue period,

and the zafting matrons of his rose period,

between the paper lightness of his wildly inventive collages,

and the bulbous tonnage of his sculpted bronze heads.

Zafdig has been in use in English, mainly in the United States, since the 1920s.

A couple of the earliest known uses are found in Variety Magazine in reviews of burlesque dancers. The word comes from the Yiddish,

Zafdic, meaning juicy or succulent, which in turn comes from Zaft, meaning juice or sap.

If this word is new to you, and you would like to take it out for a spin, please be advised that even though most dictionaries define it

as implying attractiveness, people to whom it might apply may not appreciate its use. With your

word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski.

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