avoirdupois
Americannoun
Etymology
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”)
Explanation
Avoirdupois is a system of measuring weight based on the fact that sixteen ounces are in a pound. The metric system is based on grams, and the avoirdupois system is based on pounds. This odd-looking term means something very common, at least if you live in England or the United States: the avoirdupois system is a standard for measuring weight based on there being sixteen ounces in a pound. If you measure your weight in pounds, you're using the avoirdupois system. If you measure liquids in ounces, you're using the avoirdupois system. This is one of many standards of measurement that exist, such as the metric system, which is based on units of 10.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Insofar as the notion of the American avoirdupois pound has any official meaning, it is by relation to the kilogram, of which, by law, it is 0.45359237.
From The New Yorker • Nov. 15, 2018
They were neck and neck for the first 200 feet, The Post reported, “but then Kennard’s avoirdupois began to tell on his speed, and the one-legged man took the lead.”
From Washington Post • Jun. 20, 2015
Even the obesity rate ballooned to 31.5 percent, putting Michigan among the five fattest states, in the same league of avoirdupois as Alabama and West Virginia.
From Salon • May 12, 2013
The cold remains a mystery, more prone to fell men than women, more lethal to the thin and well muscled than to those with avoirdupois, and least forgiving to the arrogant and the unaware.
From Slate • Feb. 2, 2013
In 99,600 strokes it cut away 14 ozs. avoirdupois of wrought iron, and 16.4 ozs. of steel.
From Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II by Rose, Joshua
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
