pyx

n. [ L. pyxis a box, Gr. pyxi`s a box, especially of boxwood, fr. py`xos the box tree or boxwood. See Box a receptacle. ] [ Written also pix. ] 1. (R. C. Ch.) The box, case, vase, or tabernacle, in which the host is reserved. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A box used in the British mint as a place of deposit for certain sample coins taken for a trial of the weight and fineness of metal before it is sent from the mint. Mushet. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Naut.) The box in which the compass is suspended; the binnacle. Weale. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Anat.) Same as Pyxis. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pyx cloth (R. C. Ch.), a veil of silk or lace covering the pyx. --
Trial of the pyx, the annual testing, in the English mint, of the standard of gold and silver coins. Encyc. Brit. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having a pyxidium. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Pyxidia [ NL., fr. Gr. &unr_;, dim. a &unr_; a box. See Pyx. ] (Bot.) (a) A pod which divides circularly into an upper and lower half, of which the former acts as a kind of lid, as in the pimpernel and purslane. (b) The theca of mosses. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) Same as Pixy. [ 1913 Webster ]