“[W]ho can deny ⟳ but that the rod of Gods mouth is indeed Virga virtutis, a rod of strength, an iron ⟳ rod, able to deale with all humane reaſonings, as a hammer ⟳ with a potſherd, which though to the hand of a man it may feele as hard as a rocke, yet is too brittle to endure the blow ⟳ of an iron ⟳ rod?”

“Job took a potſherd to ſcrape himself, becauſe his hands were as full of boils as his body: This is the caſe of thy corrupt ſoul: not to be recovered but by Jeſus Chriſ, whoſe ſtrength was dried up like ⟳ a potſherd, Pſal[ms] xxii. 15.”

“[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.”

“Speiser, who made excavations on Vao Island found prehistoric potsherds at a depth of 10 inches, and on the surface of the ground also.”

“I have ⟳ been asked about the single most important artifact that I have ⟳ seen. It is a single broken piece of pottery no bigger than a couple of inches, but its interpretation makes it one of the most significant artifacts in Jewish history. It is an inscribed potshard (a fragment of pottery) from Masada (in Israel) marked with the name ⟳ "ben Yair." […] While it remains a single potshard marked in ink, it is a powerful symbol of what motivates archaeologists in the field: a simple object that signifies an entire historical event.”

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Upper Intermediate
This word is part of the CEFR B2 vocabulary — upper intermediate level.

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potsherd

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