avoirdupois

[ av-er-duh-poiz ]
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noun
  1. Informal. body weight: He carries around a lot of excess avoirdupois.

Origin of avoirdupois

1
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 ) + pois (earlier peis, from Latin pēnsum “something weighed, weight,” from pendere “to weigh, weigh out”)

Words Nearby avoirdupois

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How to use avoirdupois in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for avoirdupois

avoirdupois

avoirdupois weight

/ (ˌævədəˈpɔɪz, ˌævwɑːdjuːˈpwɑː) /


noun
  1. 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

1
C14: from Old French aver de peis goods of weight

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