shard

[ shahrd ]

noun

1. a fragment, especially of broken earthenware.
2. Zoology.
   1. a scale.
   2. a shell, as of an egg or snail.
3. Entomology. an elytron of a beetle.

shard

/ ʃɑːd /

noun

1. a broken piece or fragment of a brittle substance, esp of pottery
2. zoology a tough sheath, scale, or shell, esp the elytra of a beetle

Word History and Origins

Origin of shard¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English sceard; cognate with Low German, Dutch schaard; akin to shear

Word History and Origins

Origin of shard¹

Old English sceard; related to Old Norse skarth notch, Middle High German scharte notch

Example Sentences

As Santiago leaves the scene, an unseen force knocks him out, then over the next few days he starts to lose his senses to the point where he can’t smell a corpse, taste his morning coffee or feel a glass shard in his foot.

From New York Times

"They say they know why the rig collapsed, but it wasn't supposed to be able to collapse, so there are a lot of questions," Ms Hansen says, her fingers playing with a shard of the Kielland fashioned into a necklace, which has been given to every survivor and bereaved relative.

From BBC

"The light was stunning and I captured the shot just as a shard of light from the winter sun broke through the cloud," she said.

From BBC

And he didn’t immediately know that a shard had broken free until he returned to the huddle Saturday night and teammates began pointing it out to him.

From Seattle Times

There she saw a pottery shard bearing only the letters "Burs", and intrigued, began to research their meaning.

From BBC

Related Words

• fragment
• particle
• remnant