avoirdupois

Pounds and ounces

Avoirdupois is the system of weights based on the pound of sixteen ounces, used for most goods in English-speaking countries.

More loosely, avoirdupois means body weight or heaviness: He was carrying some extra avoirdupois around the middle.

The word comes from French meaning "goods of weight" and is pronounced with the final s silent.

weight

pound

Weight, strike, or kennel

ounceOne-sixteenth of a pound
tonHeavy mass unit
stoneSolid earth fragment

dram · hundredweight · scale · balance · heft · poundage · tonnage · measurement · imperial · British

heaviness

weighty

Heavy or significant

heftyConsiderable in weight
ponderousAwkwardly heavy or slow
heavyOf great mass

burdensome · cumbersome · leaden · dense · solid · substantial · massive · bulky · corpulent · portly

body

overweight

Exceeding healthy mass

obeseExtremely overweight, unhealthily so
plumpAgreeably fat, well-filled
corpulentExcessively heavy-bodied

portly · stout · rotund · fleshy · heavyset · stocky · thickset · chunky · bulky · brawny

Categories

measurementsheight, stature, meters, depth, pound
weighingscales, scale, weight, mass, grams
weightpound, pounds, kilogram, kilograms, gram
weightsgram, kilogram, ounce, pound, ton
Poundslb, British pound, pound coin, pound note, quid
measurement systemsmetric, imperial, SI, nautical, astronomical

Opposites

measurement system

avoirdupoismetric system

Decimal-based measurement standard

metric · SI units · troy weight · decimal system · kilogram

physical weight/bulk

avoirdupoisweightlessness

Absence of apparent mass

lightness · etherealness · insubstantiality · airiness · delicacy

Family

poise, heaviness, heavier

Familiarity: Top 1,000,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Timeless · Rated G