'pound avoirdupois' definitions:

Definition of 'pound avoirdupois'

From: GCIDE
  • Pound \Pound\, n.; pl. Pounds, collectively Pound or Pounds. [AS. pund, fr. L. pondo, akin to pondus a weight, pendere to weigh. See Pendant.]
  • 1. A certain specified measure of mass or weight; especially, a legal standard consisting of an established number of ounces. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: The pound in general use in the United States and in England is the pound avoirdupois, which is divided into sixteen ounces, and contains 7,000 grains (0.453 kilogram). The pound troy is divided into twelve ounces, and contains 5,760 grains. 144 pounds avoirdupois are equal to 175 pounds troy weight. See Avoirdupois, and Troy. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. A British denomination of money of account, equivalent to twenty shillings sterling, and equal in value to about $4.86 in 1900 and $1.50 in 2002. The modern pound coin was introduced in 1983. Formerly there was a gold sovereign of the same value. [1913 Webster + PJC]
  • Note: The pound sterling was in Saxon times, about a. d. 671, a pound troy of silver, and a shilling was its twentieth part; consequently the latter was three times as large as it is at present. --Peacham. [1913 Webster]