What is "pyxis"

Pyxis \Pyx*is\, n. [L.]

1. A box; a pyx.

2. (Bot.) A pyxidium.

3. (Anat.) The acetabulum. See Acetabulum, 2.

n. 1 A small box 2 (context botany English): A capsule in which the lid separates from the top of the fruit to release the seeds; a pyxidium 3 A nautical compass 4 (context Christianity English): The box in which ashes are stored for Ash Wednesday 5 (label en anatomy) acetabulum

1. n. fruit of such plants as the plantain; a capsule whose upper part falls off when the seeds are released [syn: pyxidium]

2. a constellation in the southern hemisphere near Puppis and Antlia

3. a small box used by ancient Greeks to hold medicines

4. [also: pyxides (pl)]

Pyxis (; ) is a small and faint constellation in the southern sky. Abbreviated from Pyxis Nautica, its name is Latin for a mariner's compass (contrasting with Circinus, which represents a draftsman's compasses). Pyxis was introduced by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in the 18th century, and is counted among the 88 modern constellations. The constellation is located close to those forming the old constellation of the ship Argo Navis, and in the 19th century astronomer John Herschel suggested renaming Pyxis to Malus, the mast, but the suggestion was not followed. Pyxis is completely visible from latitudes south of 53 degrees north, with its best evening-sky visibility in February and March.

The plane of the Milky Way passes through Pyxis. A faint constellation, its three brightest stars— Alpha, Beta and Gamma Pyxidis—are in a rough line. At magnitude 3.68, Alpha is the constellation's brightest star. It is a blue-white star around 22,000 times as luminous as the Sun. Near Alpha is T Pyxidis, a recurrent nova that has flared up to magnitude 7 every few decades. Three star systems have planets, all discovered by doppler spectroscopy.

Pyxis may refer to:

• Pyxis, a constellation
• A type of capsular fruit where the upper part falls off
• Pyxis (vessel), a piece of ancient Greek pottery
• Pyxis (brand), a line of medication and medical supply automated dispensing cabinets distributed by CareFusion
• Pyxis (genus), a turtle genus
• Pyxis innovation, a hexagonal spatial index

A pyxis (, plural pyxides) is a shape of vessel from the classical world, usually a cylindrical box with a separate lid. Originally mostly used by women to hold cosmetics, trinkets or jewellery, surviving pyxides are mostly Greek pottery, but especially in later periods may be in wood, metal, ivory, or other materials. The name derived from Corinthian boxes made of wood from the tree puksos ( boxwood), that also came with covers. The shape of the vessel can be traced in pottery back to the Protogeometric period in Athens, however the Athenian pyxis has various shapes itself. At first, the two varieties of pyxis included the pointed and the flat-bottomed. The pointed pyxis didn't last much longer than the ninth century BCE, while the flat-bottomed continued into the late Geometric. It also continued to grow larger and more squat in proportions. The cover often depicts elaborately sculpted handles and the walls tend to be somewhat convex. During the sixth century BCE, however, Athens began producing boxes with concave walls that enabled them to be grasped easily when ranged close together on a shelf. Compare the waisted shape of the medieval and Early Modern albarello. Images on the pyxis usually depict the marriage procession from a young girl's house to that of her new husband.

Pyx is a term for a specifically liturgical box, usually cylindrical, but of variable design, still used for holding and transporting consecrated hosts in the traditional Christian churches, a use to which the church began to put these boxes at a very early date.

Pyxis is a genus of turtle in the Testudinidae family. It contains the following species:

• Flat-backed spider tortoise (Pyxis planicauda)
• Spider tortoise (Pyxis arachnoides)

According to traditional Chinese uranography, the modern constellation Pyxis is located within the southern quadrant of the sky, which is symbolized as the Vermilion Bird of the South (南方朱雀, Nán Fāng Zhū Què).

The name of the western constellation in modern Chinese is 羅盤座 (luó pán zuò), meaning "the compass constellation".