Word.ws English Dictionary

avoirdupois

/ˌævədəˈpɔɪz/US/ˌævɚdəˈpɔɪz/

avoirdupois noun: the official system of weights used in the UK between 1856 and 1963. It had been the customary system in London since 1300.

Noun

avoirdupois (usually uncountable, plural avoirdupoises)

  1. (historical, usually) The official system of weights used in the UK between 1856 and 1963. It had been the customary system in London since 1300.
  2. (historical, usually) The official system of weights used in the USA between 1866 and 1959.
  3. (humorous, usually) Weight; heaviness.
    • It seems humanly reasonable that the three of us can woman-handle a mere man of your elderly and insulting avoirdupois.1915, Jack London, The Little Lady of the Big House
    • The detective sergeant, who was called Munro, more than made up for Cullen's advance in the avoirdupois department. Lean to the point of emaciation, Munro was also a paragon of contemporary fashion. He was clad in a hideous brown suit […]2012, Frank Lean, Boiling Point
  4. (obsolete, usually) Merchandise.
    • From that mountain go men to the city of Thauriso that was wont to be clept Taxis, that is a full fair city and a great, and one of the best that is in the world for merchandise; thither come all merchants for to buy avoirdupois, and it is in the land of the Emperor of Persia.1357, John Mandeville, The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, modernized spelling edition

avoirdupois meaning in Tamil and Malayalam

avoirdupois in Tamil

பிரித்தானியவெடுத்தலளவை முறை, எடை, பளு

avoirdupois in Malayalam

റാത്തൽ

Forms of avoirdupois

pluralavoirdupoises
alternative form (archaic)averdupois

Origin of avoirdupois

From Middle English avoir de pois, aver de peis, haburdy poyse, haburdepays, haburdepeyse, from Old French aveir + de + peis (“asset of weight”), influenced by Middle French avoir + du + pois; compare French poids (“weight”).

Words formed from avoirdupois

Phrases with avoirdupois

Words that rhyme with avoirdupois

2 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about avoirdupois

What does avoirdupois mean?
Avoirdupois means the official system of weights used in the UK between 1856 and 1963. It had been the customary system in London since 1300.
What is avoirdupois in Tamil?
Avoirdupois in Tamil is பிரித்தானியவெடுத்தலளவை முறை, எடை, பளு. See Avoirdupois meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is avoirdupois?
Avoirdupois is a noun.
How do you pronounce avoirdupois?
Avoirdupois is pronounced /ˌævədəˈpɔɪz/ (UK).
What is the plural of avoirdupois?
The plural of avoirdupois is avoirdupoises.

Words near avoirdupois in the dictionary

  1. avoidment
  2. avoidments
  3. avoids
  4. avoids like the plague
  5. avoird.
  6. avoirdupois
  7. avoirdupois ounce
  8. avoirdupois ounces
  9. avoirdupois pound
  10. avoirdupois pounds
  11. avoirdupoises

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: avoirdupois (page history and authors); avoirdupois (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); avoirdupois (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-avoirdupois.wav.

Cite this entry: “avoirdupois.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/avoirdupois. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.