A sharp, broken piece of glass, pottery, or other hard material.
From Old English 'sceard' meaning gap or breach, related to 'scar'; the sense developed from a gap or cut to a jagged broken piece.
Archaeologists love shards because broken pottery pieces tell the story of ancient civilizations—more common than whole pots, they're like civilization's fingerprints!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.