potsherd

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

potsherd

/ˈpɒt.ʃɜːd/ UK
/ˈpɑt.ʃəɹd/ US

Where it comes from

From Middle English pot-sherd, pot-schord, pot scherd, pot scarth, from Middle English pot, pote, potte (“a container, pot, vessel; especially an earthenware vessel”) (from late Old English pot, pott (“a pot”), from Proto-Germanic *puttaz (“pot, jar; tub”), of unknown origin) + Middle English sherd (“piece of fired clay or broken earthenware; potsherd”) (from Old English sceard (“a shard, sherd”), from Proto-Germanic *skardą (“a nick, notch”)); equivalent to pot + sherd (“shard”).

noun potsherds · potshard · pot-sherd

often A piece of ceramic from pottery, often found on an archaeological site. But this madde Amalecke, / Lyke to a Mamelek, / He regardeth lordes / No more than potshordes; […]
Similar: shard, sherd

Translations

Every language

noun piece of ceramic from pottery

Español	casco, tiesto
Kiswahili	gae
Português	caco
Français	tesson
Deutsch	Scherbe, Tonscherbe, Topfscherbe
Italiano	coccio

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"potsherd." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/potsherd. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

potsherd. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/potsherd

Chicago

"potsherd." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/potsherd.

BibTeX

@misc{potsherd_2026,
  title = {potsherd},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/potsherd},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}