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Added 9 October 2026

shatter

/ˈʃætə/ verb

In Latin: frangō, comminuō Wiktionary

verb Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about shatter at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Break into many pieces.
The wine glass shattered
Damage or destroy.
The news of her husband's death shattered her life
Cause to break into many pieces.
shatter the plate

Origin

From Middle English schateren (“to scatter, dash”), an assibilated form of Middle English scateren ("to scatter"; see scatter), from Old English scaterian, from Proto-Germanic *skat- (“to smash, scatter”), perhaps ultimately imitative. Cognate with Dutch schateren (“to burst out laughing”), Low German schateren, Albanian shkatërroj (“to destroy, devastate”). Doublet of scatter.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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