sherd
UK[ʃɜːd]US[ʃɜːrd]
n
a broken piece of a brittle substance, especially pottery.
Etymology
the word 'sherd' is an alternate spelling of 'shard', both descending from the old english 'sceard', meaning a gap, notch, or fragment. this old english term is derived from the proto-germanic 'skardaz', which itself originates from the proto-indo-European root '(s)ker-', meaning 'to cut'. the semantic journey from the action of cutting to the resulting fragment is clear, and the specific application to pieces of broken pottery or glass became prominent in middle english. the spelling 'sherd' is now chiefly used in archaeological contexts, particularly in the compound 'potsherd'.
Analysis
this word is a simplex form. it is a variant of 'shard' and shares the same old english origin.
Examples
the archaeologist carefully catalogued every potsherd found at the dig site.
a sharp sherd of glass lay hidden in the sand.
the museum displayed a reconstructed vase from hundreds of matching sherds.