JOSS

Joss (?), n. [[Chinese, corrupt. fr. Pg. deos God, L. deus.]] 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.