toise

[ toiz ]

/ tɔɪz /

noun

an old French unit of length equivalent to 6.395 feet (1.949 meters).

Nearby words

toiletry, toilette, toilful, toilsome, toilworn, toise, toitoi, tojo, tok pisin, tokamak, tokara islands

Origin of toise

1590–1600; < Middle French < Vulgar Latin *tēsa, (feminine singular), Latin tēnsa (bracchia) outstretched (arms), neuter plural taken as feminine singular See tense¹

Examples from the Web for toise

These towers are said to be about one toise higher than those of Notre-Dame.
The Churches of Paris|S. Sophia Beale
Subsequently, he investigated the expansion of a toise of iron from the variation in the period of his pendulum.
Smithsonian Institution - United States National Museum - Bulletin 240|Anonymous
A Toise is two yards; and from the plan it appeared to be near the truth.
A Trip to Paris in July and August 1792|Richard Twiss
Chaucer has treated a toise as if it were equal to two feet; it was really about six.
Chaucer's Works, Volume 1 (of 7) -- Romaunt of the Rose; Minor Poems|Geoffrey Chaucer

The toise used in this measure was afterwards regarded as the standard toise, and is always referred to as the Toise of Peru.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 9|Various