What does "joss" mean?
Joss: A Chinese household divinity; a Chinese idol. "Critic in jars and josses." Colman (1761). Joss house, a Chinese temple or house for the Chinese mode of worship. -- Joss stick, a reed covered with a paste made of the dust of odoriferous woods, or a cylinder made wholly of the paste; -- burned by the Chinese before an idol.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00