Shatter

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˈʃæt.ə(ɹ)/

Definitions

1. To break suddenly into many fragments, often with force ; to cause something to break apart violently ; to cause emotional or metaphorical destruction or severe damage
2. The act of breaking into small pieces abruptly ; to make an object break violently ; to emotionally devastate or ruin a situation
3. When an object fragments abruptly by impact or stress ; to create a sudden break or destruction in something ; to shatter hopes, confidence, or stability

Etymology: Shatter and scatter are, in a sense, the same word that split in two. Middle English "schateren" was an assibilated form of "scateren," meaning "to scatter" or "to dash," and that in turn came from Old English "scaterian." The "sh" sound crept in during Middle English, pushing the verb toward the sharp, violent breaking of objects that it now means, while "scatter" kept the sense of flinging things apart. Linguists call such pairs doublets: two forms descended from one root that ended up with different meanings. The root is Proto-Germanic "*skat-," which carried the sense "to smash, scatter," and it may ultimately be imitative, perhaps mimicking the noise of something breaking. Related forms appear across the Germanic family and beyond: Dutch "schateren" means "to burst out laughing," a loud, explosive sound much like a crash, and Albanian "shkatërroj" means "to destroy, devastate." The shared thread is noise and violent dispersal.

Synonyms: break, crack, smash, destroy, fracture

Antonyms: repair, fix, mend, restore, assemble