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Definition of Avoirdupois
1. Noun. A system of weights based on the 16-ounce pound (or 7,000 grains).
Generic synonyms: System Of Weights, Weight
Terms within: Avoirdupois Unit
2. Noun. Excess bodily weight. "She disliked fatness in herself as well as in others"
Generic synonyms: Bodily Property
Specialized synonyms: Adiposeness, Adiposity, Fattiness, Abdominousness, Paunchiness, Greasiness, Oiliness, Oleaginousness, Corpulency, Fleshiness, Obesity, Steatopygia
Derivative terms: Blubbery, Fat, Fat, Fat
Antonyms: Leanness
Definition of Avoirdupois
1. n. & a. Goods sold by weight.
Definition of Avoirdupois
1. Noun. The official system of weights used in UK between 1856 and 1963. It had been the customary system in London since 1300 (C.E.). ¹
2. Noun. The official system of weights used in USA between 1866 and 1959. ¹
3. Noun. Weight; heaviness. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Avoirdupois
1. [n]
Medical Definition of Avoirdupois
1. 1. Goods sold by weight. 2. Avoirdupois weight. 3. Weight; heaviness; as, a woman of much avoirdupois. Avoirdupois weight, a system of weights by which coarser commodities are weighed, such as hay, grain, butter, sugar, tea. The standard Avoirdupois pound of the United States is equivalent to the weight of 27.7015 cubic inches of distilled water at 62 deg Fahrenheit, the barometer being at 30 inches, and the water weighed in the air with brass weights. In this system of weights 16 drams make 1 ounce, 16 ounces 1 pound, 25 pounds 1 quarter, 4 quarters 1 hundred weight, and 20 hundred weight 1 ton. The above pound contains 7,000 grains, or 453.54 grams, so that 1 pound avoirdupois is equivalent to 1 31-144 pounds troy. (See Troy weight) Formerly, a hundred weight was reckoned at 112 pounds, the ton being 2,240 pounds (sometimes called a long ton). Origin: OE. Aver de peis, goods of weight, where peis is fr. OF. Peis weight, F. Poids, L. Pensum. See Aver, and Poise, n. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)
Lexicographical Neighbors of Avoirdupois
Literary usage of Avoirdupois
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge (1920)
"avoirdupois System.— The avoirdupois system of weights is used for almost all
commodities ... The avoirdupois dram differs from the apothecaries' dram, ..."
2. Scientific American Reference Book by Albert Allis Hopkins, Alexander Russell Bond (1904)
"The pound troy and that of apothecaries' weight have each five thousand seven
hundred and sixty grains ; the pound avoirdupois has seven thousand grains. ..."
3. Higher Arithmetic: Or, The Science and Application of Nymbers; Combining the by James Bates Thomson (1853)
"251« avoirdupois Weight is used in weighing groceries and all coarse articles ;
as, sugar, ... The avoirdupois Pound of the United States, is equal to 27. ..."
4. An Elementary Treatise on Arithmetic by Silvestre François Lacroix (1825)
"Apothecaries make use of this weight in compounding their medicines ; but they
buy and sell their drugs by avoirdupois weight. avoirdupois Weight. ..."
5. The treasury of knowledge and library of reference by Samuel Maunder, Bernard Bolingbroke Woodward (1859)
"The pound, light and heavy weight, = 1 03 and 1-1 pounds avoirdupois. ...
The cántaro grosso and piccolo = 196-5 and 106 pounds avoirdupois, respectively. ..."
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