toise
[toiz]
- an old French unit of length equivalent to 6.395 feet (1.949 meters).
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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
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for toise
Historical Examples
A Toise is two yards; and from the plan it appeared to be near the truth.
A Trip to Paris in July and August 1792Richard Twiss
These towers are said to be about one toise higher than those of Notre-Dame.
The Churches of ParisS. Sophia Beale
Subsequently, he investigated the expansion of a toise of iron from the variation in the period of his pendulum.
The toise used in this measure was afterwards regarded as the standard toise, and is always referred to as the Toise of Peru.
Chaucer has treated a toise as if it were equal to two feet; it was really about six.