Meaning & use
ostrakon
Last updated
A broken piece of pottery used in ancient Greece for writing notes, receipts, or votes, especially ballots cast to banish a citizen.
See it in a sentence
Archaeologists uncovered an ostrakon inscribed with a politician's name near the Athenian agora.
Citizens scratched their choice for exile onto an ostrakon before dropping it into the voting urn.
A note on using this word
The English word "ostracism" comes directly from ostrakon, since Athenians voted to banish someone by inscribing their name on one of these shards.
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