Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Avoirdupois weight.
- n. Informal Weight or heaviness, especially of a person.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A system of weight in which one pound contains 16 ounces. It was introduced into England from Bayonne about a. d. 1300, and is substantially the Spanish system. In avoirdupois weight 7,000 troy grains (formerly, and now in the United States, approximately, but in Great Britain exactly) make a pound, while in troy weight the pound contains 5,760 grains, the grain being the same in both cases; hence, 175 pounds troy are equal to 144 pounds avoirdupois. The pound avoirdupois is the standard weight of Great Britain, and is equal to 453.6 grams in the French metric system. Avoirdupois weight is used in determining the weights of all commodities except gems and the precious metals. It is reckoned as follows:
Cwt. Qrs. Pounds. Ounces. Drams. 1 ton = 20 = 80 = 2240 = 35840 = 573440 1 hundred weight = 4 = 112 = 1792 = 28672 1 quarter = 28 = 448 = 7168 1 pound = 16 = 256 1 ounce = 16 - n. The weight of anything according to the avoirdupois system: as, his avoirdupois was 150 pounds.
- n. Also written averdupois, and often abbreviated to avoir. and avdp.
Wiktionary
- n. The official system of weights used in UK between 1856 and 1963. It had been the customary system in London since 1300 CE.
- n. The official system of weights used in USA between 1866 and 1959.
- n. Weight; heaviness.
GNU Webster's 1913
- Goods sold by weight.
- Avoirdupois weight.
- Weight; heaviness.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a system of weights based on the 16-ounce pound (or 7,000 grains)
- n. excess bodily weight
Etymologies
- Middle English avoir de pois, commodities sold by weight, alteration of Old French aveir de peis, goods of weight : aveir, avoir, to have (from Latin habēre; see able) + de, of (from Latin dē, from; see de-) + peis, pois, weight (from Vulgar Latin *pēsum, from Latin pēnsum, past participle of pendere, to hang; see (s)pen- in Indo-European roots).
Examples
“SAVE THE POUND (avoirdupois) If the word avoirdupois sounds a bit foreign too it is from French and Middle English (Anglo-French) avoir de pois, "goods of weight" or "goods sold by weight".”
“There are two series of weights in use among us; the one called avoirdupois, the other troy.”
“Sorry, but I have lived with metric most of my life and converting to avoirdupois is too much of a pain for me.”
More thoughts on why low-carb the second time around | The Blog of Michael R. Eades, M.D.
““Are you reminding me of her character, her social position or what Mr. Phinn calls her avoirdupois?””
Scales of Justice
“Though he had not yet gathered that avoirdupois which is associated with the dignity of office, there was in his square young frame an undeniable promise.”
“The rest of the day was spent in a kind of avoirdupois war.”
“I find several comments reflecting my interest in an accurate rifle, without complaining overly much about the avoirdupois.”
“Even after you explain bologna is measured in avoirdupois weight and gold in troy weight, some are not swayed.”
The Wall Street Journal: Its Weight in Bolognaard For Weighing Baloney
“It seems humanly reasonable that the three of us can woman-handle a mere man of your elderly and insulting avoirdupois.”
“Duddy and Fuddy were spirited trotters, but Mrs. Tully, despite her elderliness and avoirdupois, was without timidity when Paula held the reins.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘avoirdupois’.
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probablyankita's list
Words are all I have to take your heart away
apartheid, techno-klutz, logorrheic, gordian knot, anodyne, odor of sanctity, finders keepers, foot-in-mouth dis..., dutch uncle, masquerade, smoke signals, furtive glance and 320 more...
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Francais
fromage, chateaubriand, tournedos, sangfroid, vigneron, espagnole, crevecoeur, avoirdupois, bijouterie, sottise, aubergine
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Words I Intend to use.
selectarian, solastalgia, niefling, eldritch, santagnostic, laborious, obstreperous, quibble, inusitate, cacology, tmesis, cacoethes and 50 more...
chained_bear A Sea of Words: "The standard system of weights used in Great Britain for all goods except precious metals, precious stones, and medicines. The avoirdupois pound contains 7,000 grains. The avoirdupois weight of the U.S. agrees with that of Great Britain in the pound, ounce, and dram, but the U.S. hundredweight contains 100 pounds and the British hundredweight 112 pounds; the ton, 20 hundredweights, differs accordingly in the U.S. and Britain." (p. 95–96) Oct 13, 2008
dontcry Good-bye to peas - slang? Sep 28, 2008
dontcry Seeing peas? Having seen peas? Sep 28, 2008
dontcry To see peas? Sep 28, 2008
gangerh 'To have some peas'? Sep 28, 2008
chained_bear "'There ain't enough room for it on the slate, and anyhow they are avoirdupois ounces instead of Troy. But... the answer is well over two millions of money.'"
--P. O'Brian, The Wine-Dark Sea, 227 Mar 16, 2008