*pax*

a. [ Pref. ep- + axial. ] (Anat.) Above, or on the dorsal side of, the axis of the skeleton; episkeletal. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Hypo- + axial. ] (Anat.) Beneath the axis of the skeleton; subvertebral; hyposkeletal. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. pax peace. See Peace. ] 1. (Eccl.) The kiss of peace; also, the embrace in the sanctuary now substituted for it at High Mass in Roman Catholic churches. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (R. C. Ch.) A tablet or board, on which is a representation of Christ, of the Virgin Mary, or of some saint and which, in the Mass, was kissed by the priest and then by the people, in mediæval times; an osculatory. It is still used in communities, confraternities, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Kiss the pax, and be quiet like your neighbors. Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Friendship, or a friend; -- esp. in the phrases to make pax with, to make friends with, to be good pax, to be good friends; also, truce; -- used esp. interjectionally. [ Eng. Schoolboy Slang ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. [ L. paxillus a small stake. ] (Geol.) Resembling a little stake. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Paxilli [ L., a peg. ] (Zool.) One of a peculiar kind of spines covering the surface of certain starfishes. They are pillarlike, with a flattened summit which is covered with minute spinules or granules. See Illustration in Appendix. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ For faxvax, fr. AS. feax hair (akin to OHG. fahs) + weaxan to grow. See Wax to grow, and cf. Faxed, Pectinate. ] (Anat.) The strong ligament of the back of the neck in quadrupeds. It connects the back of the skull with dorsal spines of the cervical vertebræ, and helps to support the head. Called also paxywaxy and packwax. [ 1913 Webster ]