pyx

Meanings

Noun

• A small, usually round container used to hold the host, especially when bringing communion to the sick or others unable to attend Mass.
• A (small) box; a casket, a coffret.
• 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.
• A compass used by sailors.

Verb

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

Origin

• The verb is derived from the noun.