1
a : a piece or fragment of a brittle substance broadly : a small piece or part : scrap little shards of time and space recorded by the camera's lens —Rosalind Krauss2
or sherd : a fragment of a pottery vessel found on sites and in refuse deposits where pottery-making peoples have lived3
: highly angular curved glass fragments of tuffaceous sediments
Did you know?Shard dates back to Old English (where it was spelled sceard) and is related to Old English scieran, meaning "to cut." English speakers have adopted the modernized shard spelling for most uses, but archaeologists prefer to spell the word sherd when referring to the ancient fragments of pottery (sometimes referred to specifically as potsherds) they unearth. While shard initially referred to exactly such items, today the word is also used more broadly to encompass slivers of intangible concepts. A baseless accusation may be made "without a shard of evidence," and fans of the losing team may "cling to a shard of hope" until the final score. The utility of shard is its, ahem, point.
Examples of shard in a Sentence Recent Examples on the Web Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback. Less than two minutes into the burn, the motor's exhaust nozzle violently shattered into countless shards of debris. —ArsTechnica, 26 June 2025 The shards weren’t discovered in the Alberts’ yard until after 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 29, 2022, according to Vanity Fair. —Lynsey Eidell, People.com, 19 June 2025 The department’s Incident Management Assistance Patrol responded and found vehicles driving on the shoulder to avoid driving over the glass shards, Moody said. —Jeff A. Chamer, Charlotte Observer, 13 June 2025 Although Leal was not injured, Pimentel was hurt by glass shards after bullets struck his patrol car window. —James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 3 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for shard Word HistoryEtymology
Middle English, from Old English sceard; akin to Old English scieran to cut — more at shear
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Time Traveler
The first known use of shard was before the 12th century Cite this Entry“Shard.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shard. Accessed 8 Jul. 2025.
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