different between poise vs dexterity

English

Etymology

From Middle English poys, poyse, from Anglo-Norman pois, Middle French pois (“weight”) and Anglo-Norman poise, Middle French poise (“measure of weight”), from Latin p?ns?re (“to ponder, weight, think”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: poyz, IPA^(key): /p??z/
• Rhymes: -??z

Noun

poise (countable and uncountable, plural poises)

1. A state of balance, equilibrium or stability.

   • plants and animals, which are all made up of and nourished by water, and perhaps never return to water again, do not keep things at a poise

2. Composure; freedom from embarrassment or affectation.
3. Mien; bearing or deportment of the head or body.
4. A condition of hovering, or being suspended.
5. (physics) A CGS unit of dynamic viscosity equal to one dyne-second per square centimetre.
6. (obsolete) Weight; an amount of weight, the amount something weighs.
7. The weight, or mass of metal, used in weighing, to balance the substance weighed.
8. That which causes a balance; a counterweight.
   • 1677, John Dryden, The State of Innocence

     Men of an unbounded imagination […] often wanted the poise of judgment.

Derived terms

Related terms

• peso
• pansy
• pensive
• avoirdupois

Translations

Verb

poise (third-person singular simple present poises, present participle poising, simple past and past participle poised)

1. (obsolete) To hang in equilibrium; to be balanced or suspended; hence, to be in suspense or doubt.
   • 1850, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Seaside and the Fireside

     The slender, graceful spars / Poise aloft in the air.

2. (obsolete) To counterpoise; to counterbalance.
   • 1699, John Dryden, Epistle to John Dryden

     to poise with solid sense a sprightly wit

3. (obsolete) To be of a given weight; to weigh. [14th-17th c.]
4. (obsolete) To add weight to, to weigh down. [16th-18th c.]
5. (now rare) To hold (something) with or against something else in equilibrium; to balance, counterpose. [from 16th c.]
   • 1597, William Shakespeare, Romeo & Juliet, I.2:

     you saw her faire none els being by, / Her selfe poysd with her selfe in either eye.

6. To hold (something) in equilibrium, to hold balanced and ready; to carry (something) ready to be used. [from 16th c.]

   I poised the crowbar in my hand, and waited.

   to poise the scales of a balance
7. To keep (something) in equilibrium; to hold suspended or balanced. [from 17th c.]

   The rock was poised precariously on the edge of the cliff.

8. To ascertain, as if by balancing; to weigh.

   • He cannot sincerely consider the strength, poise the weight, and discern the evidence.

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• poise on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• speoi

Old French

Alternative forms

• peise (Anglo-Norman)

Noun

poise f (oblique plural poises, nominative singular poise, nominative plural poises)

1. weight
2. a unit of measure of unknown value (which presumably varied because of the technology of the time)

Descendants

• ? English: poise

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (poise)

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French dextérité, from Latin dexteritas, from dexter (“on the right”), this is in reference to most people having greater fine motor skills in their right hand.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d?ks?t???ti/

Noun

dexterity (countable and uncountable, plural dexterities)

1. Skill in performing tasks, especially with the hands.

Derived terms

• sexterity

Related terms

• dexterous
• ambidextrous

Translations