Related Searches
on Ask.com
avoirdupois - 6 dictionary results
av⋅oir⋅du⋅pois
[av-er-duh-poiz] 
–noun
| 1. | avoirdupois weight. |
| 2. | Informal. bodily weight: He carries around a lot of excess avoirdupois. |
Origin:
1250–1300; ME avoir de pois lit., property of weight < OF, equiv. to avoir (earlier aveir < L habēre to have) + de (< L dē) + pois (earlier peis < L pēnsum)
1250–1300; ME avoir de pois lit., property of weight < OF, equiv. to avoir (earlier aveir < L habēre to have) + de (< L dē) + pois (earlier peis < L pēnsum)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
|
Link To avoirdupois
| av·oir·du·pois (āv'ər-də-poiz') n.
[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).] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Avoirdupois
Av`oir*du*pois"\ ([a^]v`[~e]r*d[-u]*poiz"), n. & a. [OE. aver de peis, goods of weight, where peis is fr. OF. peis weight, F. poids, L. pensum. See Aver, n., and Poise, n.]1. Goods sold by weight. [Obs.] 2. Avoirdupois weight. 3. Weight; heaviness; as, a woman of much avoirdupois. [Colloq.] Avoirdupois weight, a system of weights by which coarser commodities are weighed, such as hay, grain, butter, sugar, tea. Note: The standard Avoirdupois pound of the United States is equivalent to the weight of 27.7015 cubic inches of distilled water at 62[deg] Fahrenheit, the barometer being at 30 inches, and the water weighed in the air with brass weights. In this system of weights 16 drams make 1 ounce, 16 ounces 1 pound, 25 pounds 1 quarter, 4 quarters 1 hundred weight, and 20 hundred weight 1 ton. The above pound contains 7,000 grains, or 453.54 grams, so that 1 pound avoirdupois is equivalent to 1 31-144 pounds troy. (See Troy weight.) Formerly, a hundred weight was reckoned at 112 pounds, the ton being 2,240 pounds (sometimes called a long ton).
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
avoirdupois
1656, misspelling of M.E. avoir-de-peise (c.1300), from O.Fr. avoir de pois "goods of weight," from aveir "property, goods" (noun use of aveir "have") + peis "weight," from L. pensum, neut. of pendere "to weigh" (see pendant). After 1485, the standard system of weights used in England for all goods except precious metals, precious stones, and medicine.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Main Entry: av·oir·du·pois
Pronunciation: "av-&rd-&-'poiz, -'pwä
Function: adjective
: expressed in avoirdupois weight<avoirdupois units> <5 ounces avoirdupois> <2 avoirdupois ounces>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
avoirdupois av·oir·du·pois (āv'ər-də-poiz')
n.
Avoirdupois weight.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
