Zakuska

Word of the Day for Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Zakuska \zuh-KOOS-kuh\, noun:

an hors d'oeuvre.

"Do you have anything for zakuska, Tractvanna?" Oleg took stock of the table: boiled potatoes, bread, canned peas and sardines, a clove of garlic.
-- Marina Sonkina, "Tractorina's Travels," Lucia's Eyes and Other Stories

I drink a shot, take a bite of marinated mushrooms in sour cream. Humankind has yet to invent any better zakuska. Even Nanny's half-sour pickles can't hold a candle to this.
-- Vladimir Sorokin, Day of the Oprichnik

This Russian word for a snack, zakuska, entered the lexicon in the mid 1880s as a derivative of kusát meaning "to bite."

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com