Josses

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A term referring to small wooden figures, typically carved, used in some Asian cultures for spiritual or religious purposes
2. Representing idols or charms that are associated with luck or protection in certain traditions
3. Denoting symbolic objects that hold cultural significance, often used in rituals or as offerings in spiritual practices

Etymology: "Josses" is the plural of "joss," a small figure of a deity or ancestor kept in a Chinese household or temple as a source of luck. The noun traces to a sea-trade mix-up: in the ports of China, Portuguese traders had long been known, and their word "deus," meaning "god," passed into Macau Pidgin Portuguese, then into the Chinese Pidgin English spoken by foreign merchants and sailors, where it became "joss." English speakers thus borrowed a Portuguese word for God and applied it to the Chinese idols they saw in temples and shops. The Latin "deus" and the Portuguese word share the same origin, reaching back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning roughly "god" or "that which belongs to heaven." The English word "joss" is therefore a doublet of "Tiw" and "Tyr," the names of Germanic gods that descend from the same ancestral root, though those names came into English by an entirely separate path.

Synonyms: idols, figurines