pyx

Meaning

Noun

1. (also, figuratively) A small, usually round container used to hold the host (“consecrated bread or wafer of the Eucharist”), especially when bringing communion to the sick or others unable to attend Mass.
2. (broadly, rare) A (small) box; a casket, a coffret.
3. (British) A box used in a mint as a place to deposit sample coins intended to have the fineness of their metal and their weight tested before the coins are issued to the public.
4. (obsolete, rare) A compass used by sailors.

Verb

1. (obsolete, transitive) To place (the host) in a pyx.
2. (figuratively, transitive) To enclose (something) in a box or other container; specifically, to place (a deceased person's body) in a coffin; to coffin, to encoffin.
3. (British, transitive) To deposit (sample coins) in a pyx; (by extension) to test (such coins) for the fineness of metal and weight before a mint issues them to the public.

Synonyms

pix

pyx chest

pix chest

monstrance

ciborium

Translations

ciboire

pisside

αρτοφόριο

Ziborium

pyxis

ciborie

hostiedoosje

cibório

píxide

píxide

âmbula

Pyxis

κιβωτίδιο

lunule

Pronounced as (IPA)

/pɪks/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: pix

In summary

The noun is derived from Late Middle English pix, pixe (“vessel for holding a host, pyx; hip bone socket, pyxis”) [and other forms], from Late Latin pyxis (“vessel for holding a host”), Latin pyxis (“small box for medicines or toiletries; box holding sample coins for testing; hip bone socket; sailor's compass”), from Koine Greek πυξίς (puxís), Ancient Greek πῠξῐ́ς (pŭxĭ́s, “box; box or tablet made of boxwood; cylinder”), from πῠ́ξος (pŭ́xos, “box tree; boxwood”) + -ῐς (-ĭs, suffix forming feminine nouns). Doublet of box, piseog, and pyxis.
The verb is derived from the noun.