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pyx chest

 - 2 dictionary results

pyx

[piks]
–noun
1. Ecclesiastical.
a. the box or vessel in which the reserved Eucharist or Host is kept.
b. a watch-shaped container for carrying the Eucharist to the sick.
2. Also called pyx chest. a box or chest at a mint, in which specimen coins are deposited and reserved for trial by weight and assay.
Also, pix.


Origin:
1350–1400; ME pyxe < L pyxis < Gk pyxís a box, orig. made of boxwood
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Word Origin & History

pyx 
c.1400, "a box," esp. the vessel in which the host or consecrated bread is preserved, from L. pyxis, from Gk. pyxis "box," from pyxos "box-tree," of uncertain origin.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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