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pyx: Word of the day for June 3, 2021

pyx , n :
(Christianity, 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. (by extension, rare) A (small) box; a casket, a coffret. (chiefly Britain) 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. (nautical, obsolete, rare) A compass used by sailors. pyx v (transitive) (obsolete) To place (the host) in a pyx. (figuratively) To enclose (something) in a box or other container; specifically, to place (a deceased person's body) in a coffin; to coffin, to encoffin. (chiefly Britain) 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. Today, the Thursday after Trinity Sunday in 2021, is marked as the Feast of Corpus Christi by some churches to celebrate the presence of Jesus Christ in the elements of the Eucharist.
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