avoirdupois

[ av-er-duh-poiz ]

noun

1. avoirdupois weight.
2. Informal. body weight:

   He carries around a lot of excess avoirdupois.

avoirdupois

/ ˌævwɑːdjuːˈpwɑː; ˌævədəˈpɔɪz /

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 Abbreviationavdpavoir

Word History and Origins

Origin of avoirdupois¹

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”)

Word History and Origins

Origin of avoirdupois¹

C14: from Old French aver de peis goods of weight

Example Sentences

Significantly, the zoo indicated that his increases in avoirdupois do not stem from any sedentary life of lolling about the den, sampling sweet potato, bamboo and biscuits.

From Washington Post

By contrast, their descendants today fret about advancing avoirdupois, a real estate bubble and the high cost of space-age diagnostic scans.

From Washington Post

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

McCormick was a member of the Jolly Fat Men’s Club, a fraternal group that celebrated avoirdupois.

From Washington Post

In recent decades a number of institutions have taken up the challenge of bringing before the public works whose sheer avoirdupois makes them unsuitable even for museums and galleries.

From Economist