pyx
/pɪks/
pyx noun: 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.
Noun
pyx (plural pyxes)
- 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.
- [F]oraſmuche as we have often and many tymes, to our inwarde regrete and diſpleaſure, ſeen at oure Jen, in diverſe and many Churches of our Realme, the holie Sacrament of the Aulter kept in ful simple and inhoneſt Pixes, ſpecially Pixes of copre and tymbre: we have appointed and commaunded the...1509 April 20 (Gregorian calendar), Henry VII of England, edited by [Thomas Astle], The Will of King Henry VII, London: Printed for the editor; and sold by T[homas] Payne, […]; and B[enjamin] White...
- With Croſſes, Relicks, Crucifixes, / Beads, Pictures, Roſaries and Pixes: / The Tools of working out Salvation, / By meer Mechanick Operation.1677 (indicated as 1678), [Samuel Butler], “[The Third Part of Hudibras]. Canto I.”, in Hudibras. The Third and Last Part. […], London: […] Robert Horne, […], published 1679, →OCLC; republished in...
- A (small) box; a casket, a coffret.
- It is not Beauty, which its Bluſh doth owe / Unto the Pixe and Pencill.1648, Joseph Beaumont, “Canto X. The Marveils. Stanza 1.”, in Psyche: Or Loves Mysterie, […], London: […] John Dawson for George Boddington, […], →OCLC, page 156, column 1
- [M]eantime some pyx to screen / The full-grown pest, some lid to shut upon / The goblin!1840 March, Robert Browning, “Book the First”, in Sordello, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 26
- Synonyms:
- pyxis
- 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.
- [T]he said Tresurer and other Officers of the sayd Mynts, to bring with them, at that tyme and place, all ther Pixes, and ther severall Indentures of Coynag, by and for the holle tyme the said Assaye shall be taken.16th–17th century, Rogers Ruding, “Of the Trial of the Pix”, in [John Yonge Akerman], editor, Annals of the Coinage of Great Britain and Its Dependencies; from the Earliest Period of Authentic...
- When His Majesty is pleased to call for the money in the pyx to be tried, by order of his Council, the same is signified to the Lord Chancellor and Lords of the Treasury. The Lord Chancellor summons a jury of goldsmiths for the trial. The Treasury order the Mint officers to produce their pyx, and...1837 June 1, J. W. Morrison (witness), “Report from the Select Committee on the Royal Mint; together with the Minutes of Evidence, Appendix and Index. […]”, in Reports from Committees: […], volume...
- A compass used by sailors.
- Here I lament I had not the accomodation^([sic]) of the Pyxis, or any Horizontal Plate divided into more points of the Compaſs, though I ſee not that Natural Knowledge requires ſo exact a Pyx as Navigation uſeth; becauſe I boggle at this, that I find the North Cardinal point gives more inſtances...1686, J[ohn] Goad, chapter XII, in Astro-meteorologica, or, Aphorisms and Large Significant Discourses of the Natures and Influences of the Cœlestial Bodies; […], 2nd edition, London: […] O[badiah]...
- Who travels in religious jars, / (Truth mixt with error, ſhade with rays,) / Like Whiſton wanting pyx or ſtars, / In ocean wide or ſinks or ſtrays.c. 1710, [Richard] Bentley, “A Reply to a Copy of Verses Made in Imitation of Book III. Ode 2. of Horace. Angustam amice pauperium pati, &c. And Sent by Mr. [Walter] Titley to Dr. Bentley.”, in...
Verb
pyx (third-person singular simple present pyxes, present participle pyxing, simple past and past participle pyxed)
- To place (the host) in a pyx.
- Than was yt boxed pyxed and tabernacled & so borne forth in processyon with torche lyght banner crosse candelstyck.1545, Iohan Bale [i.e., John Bale], A Mysterye of Inyquyte Contayned within the Heretycall Genealogye of Ponce Pantolabus [John Huntingdon], […], Geneva: […] Mycheal Woode [actually Antwerp: A....
- The bread that was left of this consecration or breaking, which was so holy as the other, was neither housed nor churched, boxed nor pixed, but remained there still to the householders, to be eaten of whomsoever lusted.1545, John Bale, “[The Image of both Churches, Being an Exposition of the Most Wonderful Book of Revelation of St John the Evangelist.] The Twenty-second Chapter.”, in Henry Christmas, editor, Select...
- To enclose (something) in a box or other container; specifically, to place (a deceased person's body) in a coffin; to coffin, to encoffin.
- Here lies poor Artedi, in foreign land pyx'd / Not a man nor a fish, but something betwixt, / Not a man, for his life amongst fishes he past, / Not a fish, for he perished by water at last.a. 1814, George Shaw, “In Humulum Artedi”, in Theodore W[ells] Pietsch [III], The Curious Death of Peter Artedi: A Mystery in the History of Science, New York, N.Y.: Scott & Nix, published 2010, →ISBN
- There pyxed in alabastrine cell, / All uncorrupt his shade shall dwell, / While waves his memory chime; […]1888, James Saunders, “Raygarth’s Gladys”, in Raygarth’s Gladys: And Other Poems, London: Thomas Laurie, […], →OCLC, stanza VI, page 37
- 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.
- After the said moneys shall be by the said warden and the assaymaster tried and pyxed as ordered by the said indenture, the said master worker shall make true deliverance and payment of the same to every person by weight by the same balance and weight whereof he shall receive the same bullion...1578 October 7 (Gregorian calendar), “Commission to Richard Martyn”, in Calendar of the Patent Rolls Preserved in the Public Record Office: Elizabeth I, volumes VII (1575–1578), London: Her Majesty’s...
- [W]hen the money is coined it is not allowed to go out of the mint until pixed; that is, until it had been ascertained, by the assay of one piece taken out of each journeyweight of coin, that it is of standard purity: […]1842, “ASSA′Y”, in W[illiam] T[homas] Brande, assisted by Joseph Cauvin, editors, A Dictionary of Science, Literature, & Art: […], London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, […], →OCLC, page 95...
pyx meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Arabic and Indonesian
pyx in Tamil
- container used to hold the host
- நற்கருணை சிமிழ் naṟkaruṇai cimiḻ
pyx in Urdu
- صندوق
pyx in Arabic
- container used to hold the host
- حق القربان المقدس haqu alqurban almuqadas
- box used in a mint to deposit sample coins for testing
- حقة القربان hiqat alqurban
pyx in Indonesian
- container used to hold the host
- piksis
Examples of pyx in a sentence
- If I sell the very pyx and candlesticks on the altar at Jorvaulx, I shall scarce raise the half; […]1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter III, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable...
- Her treasuries are still rich in the various beautiful objects comprehended under the name of altar furniture, such as chalices, pyxes and monstrances, missals, reliquaries, and so on.1870 March 26, “Reviews. Ecclesiastical Art in Germany during the Middle Ages. By Dr. Wilhelm Lübke. London: Simpkin & Marshall.”, in The...
- And two streets off another locking it into a pyx.1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 3: Proteus]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part I [Telemachia], page 40:
- On one of these visits she asked me to get her pyx, a beautiful, golden, highly decorated container used to carry the hosts for Holy Communion.2009, Claire Leimbach, Trypheyna McShane, Zenith Virago, “Talking about Death”, in The Intimacy of Death and Dying: Simple Guidance to Help...
Synonyms of pyx
Forms of pyx
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | pyxes |
| alternative form | pix |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | pyxes |
| present participle | pyxing |
| past participle | pyxed |
| past | pyxed |
Origin of pyx
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.
Words formed from pyx
Phrases with pyx
Words that rhyme with pyx
Questions about pyx
- What does pyx mean?
- Pyx means 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.
- What is pyx in Tamil?
- Pyx in Tamil is நற்கருணை சிமிழ் (naṟkaruṇai cimiḻ). See Pyx meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use pyx in a sentence?
- If I sell the very pyx and candlesticks on the altar at Jorvaulx, I shall scarce raise the half; […]
- What part of speech is pyx?
- Pyx can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce pyx?
- Pyx is pronounced /pɪks/ (UK).
- What is the plural of pyx?
- The plural of pyx is pyxes.
Words near pyx in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: pyx (page history and authors); pyx (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-pyx.wav.
Cite this entry: “pyx.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pyx. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.