Nearby Words

ostracon

[os-truh-kon]

os·tra·con

[os-truh-kon]
noun, plural -ca [-kuh] .
(in ancient Greece) a potsherd, especially one used as a ballot on which the name of a person voted to be ostracized was inscribed.
Also, ostrakon.


Origin:
1880–85; < Greek óstrakon; see ostracize
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To ostracon

:10

:09

:08

:07

:06

:05

:04

:03

:02

:01

Ostracon is always a great word to know.
So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
Collins
World English Dictionary
ostracon (ˈɒstrəˌkɒn)
 
n
(in ancient Greece) a potsherd used for ostracizing
 
[from Greek]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

ostracon

potshard or limestone flake used in antiquity, especially by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Hebrews, as a surface for drawings or sketches, or as an alternative to papyrus for writing as well as for calculating accounts. Of considerable artistic merit, the drawings on ostraca, which are usually coloured, depict scenes from nature and everyday life or scenes in which animals seem to parody human actions (it has been conjectured that the latter illustrated popular fables).

Learn more about ostracon with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Cite This Source
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature