avoirdupois

[ av-er-duh-poiz ]

See synonyms for avoirdupois on Thesaurus.com

noun

avoirdupois weight.
Informal. body weight: He carries around a lot of excess avoirdupois.

Origin of avoirdupois

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English avoir de pois literally, “goods of weight, property of weight,” from Old French aver “goods, property,” equivalent to avoir (earlier aveir, from Latin habēre “to have”) + de “of” (from Latin dē ) + pois (earlier peis, from Latin pēnsum “something weighed, weight,” from pendere “to weigh, weigh out”)

Words Nearby avoirdupois

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use avoirdupois in a sentence

Our nation's excess avoirdupois was, it was alleged, costing north of $100 billion a year.
How Public Health Experts Turned Corporations into Public Enemy #1 | Megan McArdle | March 25, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
Its owner seems to take as much pride in her bones as the big girls of Rubens could take in their avoirdupois.
Skin, Bones and Beauty | Blake Gopnik | August 15, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
English avoirdupois, costing from one dollar and three-quarters to two dollars and a half.
A Woman's Journey Round the World | Ida Pfeiffer
I never can see why I should relieve a maiden of a burden when her avoirdupois equals mine.
Tessa Wadsworth's Discipline | Jennie M. Drinkwater
"Let go, Mr. Passford," whispered Flint, when he realized that his avoirdupois was too much for the young officer.
Within The Enemy's Lines | Oliver Optic

How can we know that one pound and one pound make two pounds, if one of the pounds may be troy and the other avoirdupois?
Plato and the Other Companions of Sokrates, 3rd ed. Volume III (of 4) | George Grote
In the computation of avoirdupois and of the tape-measure, this was the greatest figure that ever travelled the Great North Road.
The Great North Road: London to York | Charles G. Harper

British Dictionary definitions for avoirdupois

avoirdupois

avoirdupois weight

/ (ˌævədəˈpɔɪz, ˌævwɑːdjuːˈpwɑː) /

noun

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 ton: Abbreviation: avdp, avoir

Origin of avoirdupois

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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