Pl. xoana. Gr. Antiq. [Gr. ξόανον, related to ξύειν to scrape, carve.] A primitive rudely carved image or statue (originally wooden), esp. of a deity.
1705. Phillips (ed. Kersey), Xoana, graven Images, Statues carv’d out of Wood or Stone.
1883. Daily News, 10 May, 5/2. This particular xoanon, if we may use that expression in lieu of ‘idol.’
1893. W. M. Ramsay, Church in Roman Empire, vii. 125. The primitive xoana of the nursing-mother (Artemis at Ephesus).
