noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A fragment of pottery.
2. 2
   The middle layer of a molluscan shell.

Etymology

From New Latin ostracum, from Ancient Greek ὄστρακον (óstrakon, “pottery fragment; shell”).

Related phrases

pro-ostracum

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.