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.
© Webster 1913.