shard
pronunciation
How to pronounce shard in British English:
UK [ʃɑ:d]
How to pronounce shard in American English:
US [ʃɑrd]
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- Noun:
- a broken piece of a brittle artifact
Word Origin
- shard (n.)
- also sherd, Old English sceard "incision, cleft, gap; potshard, a fragment, broken piece," from Proto-Germanic *skardas (cognates: Middle Dutch schaerde "a fragment, a crack," Dutch schaard "a flaw, a fragment," German Scharte "a notch," Danish skaar "chink, potsherd"), a past participle from the root of Old English sceran "to cut" (see shear). Meaning "fragment of broken earthenware" developed in late Old English. Used late 14c. as "scale of a dragon." French écharde "prickle, splinter" is a Germanic loan-word.
Example
- 1. London recently inaugurated the " shard " , western europe 's tallest building .
- 2. He was carrying the bag under one arm when a bottle broke and a single shard stabbed him in the armpit .
- 3. And looming above it all the grotesque shard , our capital 's latest and most disgusting lump of privatised skyline .
- 4. But if a significant species is very rare , a shard can suffice , he explains .
- 5. The app also includes 360-degree photographic panoramas of everything from westminster cathedral to views from the top of the shard .