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Shard and sherd are two words that are close in pronunciation and spelling, and many people find them confusing. We will examine the definitions of shard and sherd, where they came from and some examples of their use in sentences.

A shard is a broken piece of china, glass, ceramic, etc., with edges that are sharp. Usually, shards are the result of shattering something such as a dish or glass. The word shard is derived from the Old English word sceard, meaning gap or incision. The plural form of shard is shards.

A “sherd” is a broken piece of pottery with edges that are sharp, usually referring to one that is found in an archaeological site. In essence, the words shard and sherd are interchangeable, though the term sherd is favored by archaeologists. Sherd is an abbreviation of the word potsherd, which has been in use since the 1300s. The plural of sherd is sherds.

Source: Grammarist