Definition of "encolpium"

Since encolpiums of this type were used for many centuries, many have survived and the literature is fairly extensive.

1965, Marvin Chauncey Ross, Catalogue of the Byzantine and Early Mediaeval Antiquities in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection, Volume 2

An encolpium or reliquary is mentioned as being of gold with one side, obviously the front, formed of crystal, the other sides being enamel.

2002, Herbert Norris, Church Vestments: Their Origin and Development, page 136

Encolpia in the form of crosses may be a uniquely interactive sort of reliquary.

2012, Cynthia Jean Hahn, Strange Beauty: Issues in the Making and Meaning of Reliquaries