joss stick
1
8.2
- noun
- /ˈdʒɑs stɪk/
:
varita de incienso
- Here, as everywhere, tiny corkscrews of pungent smoke curl up from a bunch of smoldering Joss sticks stuck in a little earthenware bowl of sand.
- light joss sticks
Examples
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In little niches in the stone walls were small gods, before them the smoldering joss sticks.
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Joss sticks burn, sending wispy tendrils of incense into the air.
Fiction book (1998) -
You light that joss stick holder over there.
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Probably, sprawled on the bed, a joss stick burning to keep away the mosquitoes, memorizing her collection of picture books.
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Burning joss sticks attracts ghosts, who consume the smoke and destroy the fortunes of the family.
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Lighting joss sticks, they leave them to burn in a black copper boiler, shining with coins like the Fountain of Trevi.
Fiction book (2001) -
The ash crumbled among the roots; the knots were crammed with old joss sticks like strange blooms.
Fiction book (2000) -
Buddhist monks led prayers as well-wishers lit candles and fragrant joss sticks.
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There is a recess outside each shop, and at dusk the joss sticks burning in these fill the city with the fragrance of incense.
How Fragrant
Surface Forms
Morphology
Knowing 'joss' (a god/idol) and 'stick' (a thin rod), a learner can infer 'a stick associated with worship or religious use', so the core idea is compositional. However, identifying the item specifically as a slender incense stick burned in ceremonies requires cultural/pragmatic knowledge, so the relation is only partially predictable.
Etymology
Joss stick may come from an old foreign word for 'god', so it literally meant a joss ('god') stick used in worship. People burn these thin sticks as incense in front of shrines or during prayers, and that is why the phrase means 'a slender stick of incense used in religious ceremonies'.