Definition of ostracon in English:
ostracon
(also ostrakon)
nounPlural ostraca, Plural ostraka ˈɒstrəkɒnˈästrəˌkän
historical A potsherd used as a writing surface.
Example sentencesExamples
- Our earliest glimpse of Euclidean material will be the most remarkable for a thousand years, six fragmentary ostraca containing text and a figure… found on Elephantine Island in 1906/07 and 1907 / 08…
- Sometimes writing from this period has survived on ostraca which are inscribed pottery fragments.
- Votes were written on ostraka, which were broken pots, and from this name comes our present word to ostracise.
- He noted down on a papyrus or an ostraka a full record of the grain measured so that a definite tax liability could be determined.
- The ostraca are included, while texts from other sites in the Judean Desert will be included in a subsequent volume of the concordance.
Origin
Greek, 'hard shell or potsherd'.