pyx

or pix

[ piks ]

noun
  1. Ecclesiastical.

    • the box or vessel in which the reserved Eucharist or Host is kept.

    • 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.

Origin of pyx

1
1350–1400; Middle English pyxe<Latin pyxis<Greek pyxís a box, originally made of boxwood

Words Nearby pyx

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use pyx in a sentence

  • No longer, says Sir John, do men swear devoutly by the cross and mass, or by such innocent oaths as the pyx or the mousefoot.

  • In the Eastern Cloister you see an ancient door, leading to what is now called the chapel of the pyx.

  • In it is the Box or pyx, containing specimen standard-pieces of all the gold and silver coins of the realm.

  • He says it was sometimes done in darning stitches for ecclesiastical purposes, for instance, for coverings for the pyx.

    Needlework As Art | Marian Alford
  • He opened the pyx, took out a little curl of paper, and spread it on the desk.

    The Last Miracle | M. P. Shiel

British Dictionary definitions for pyx

pyx

less commonly pix

/ (pɪks) /


noun
  1. Also called: pyx chest the chest in which coins from the British mint are placed to be tested for weight, etc

  2. Christianity any receptacle in which the Eucharistic Host is kept

Origin of pyx

1
C14: from Latin pyxis small box, from Greek, from puxos box tree

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012