pot-sherd

See also: potsherd

English

Noun

pot-sherd (plural pot-sherds)

1. Alternative form of potsherd
   • 1916, E. S. Roberts, E[rnest] A[rthur] Gardner, “Criticism and Interpretation [VIII. 2. Epigraphy.]”, in Leonard Whibley, editor, A Companion to Greek Studies: Edited for the Syndics of the University Press, 3rd revised and enlarged edition, Cambridge: At the University Press, →OCLC, section 737 (Definition and Scope), page 687:

     [I]n the case of pottery, it [epigraphy] is usually taken to include graffiti scratched with a sharp point, and even painted inscriptions which are made before firing as part of the design of a vase, but not written documents (ostraka), in which pot-sherds are merely used as a material to write on instead of papyrus.

Middle English

Etymology

From pot +‎ sherd, from pot, pote, potte (“a container, pot, vessel; especially an earthenware vessel”) (from late Old English pot, pott (“a pot”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *budn- (“a type of vessel”)) + sherd (“piece of fired clay or broken earthenware; potsherd”) (from Old English sceard (“a shard, sherd”), from Proto-Germanic *skardą (“a nick, notch”)).

Noun

pot-sherd

1. pottery shard; potsherd

Alternative forms

• pot scarth
• pot scherd
• pot-shō̆rd

Descendants

• English: potsherd

References

• “pot-shō̆rd, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 7 November 2017.
• “potsherd” in Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary: Based on Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, 8th edition, Springfield, Mass.: G[eorge] & C[harles] Merriam, 1973 (1974 printing), →OCLC.