avoirdupois
[av-er-duh-poiz]
- avoirdupois weight.
- Informal. bodily weight: He carries around a lot of excess avoirdupois.
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Origin of avoirdupois
1250–1300; Middle English avoir de pois literally, property of weight < Old French, equivalent to avoir (earlier aveir < Latin habēre to have) + de (< Latin dē) + pois (earlier peis < Latin pēnsum)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for avoirdupois
Contemporary Examples
Its owner seems to take as much pride in her bones as the big girls of Rubens could take in their avoirdupois.
Historical Examples
A single pair has been known to weigh as much as 60 pounds avoirdupois!
The Hunters' FeastMayne Reid
With the avoirdupois of Miss Jolliboy, life would appear a desert.
VagabondiaFrances Hodgson Burnett
Estimate the value of Westminster Abbey in the Avoirdupois measure.
HieroglyphicsArthur Machen
Coal is measured by the ton of two thousand pounds avoirdupois.
Foods and Household ManagementHelen Kinne
So, as there is no virtue in avoirdupois, there is no ‘greatness’ in mere numbers.
Mr. Oseba's Last DiscoveryGeorge W. Bell
avoirdupois
avoirdupois weight
- a system of weights used in many English-speaking countries. It is based on the pound, which contains 16 ounces or 7000 grains. 100 pounds (US) or 112 pounds (Brit) is equal to 1 hundredweight and 20 hundredweights equals 1 tonAbbreviation: avdp, avoir
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Word Origin
C14: from Old French aver de peis goods of weight
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for avoirdupois
n.
1650s, misspelling of Middle English avoir-de-peise (c.1300), from Old French avoir de pois "goods of weight," from aveir "property, goods" (noun use of aveir "have") + peis "weight," from Latin pensum, neuter of pendere "to weigh" (see pendant (n.)). After late 15c., the standard system of weights used in England for all goods except precious metals, precious stones, and medicine.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
avoirdupois
(ăv′ər-də-poiz′)- Avoirdupois weight.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.