n.
Pronunciation: ' shärd
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English sceard; akin to Old English scieran to cut ― more at SHEAR
Date: before 12th century
1 a : a piece or fragment of a brittle substance < shard s of glass> broadly : a small piece or part : SCRAP <little shard s of time and space recorded by the camera's lens ― Rosalind Krauss> b : SHELL , SCALE especially : ELYTRON
2 or sherd \ ' sh ə rd \ : fragments of pottery vessels found on sites and in refuse deposits where pottery-making peoples have lived
3 : highly angular curved glass fragments of tuffaceous sediments