different between poise vs toise

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

From French toise.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t??z/

Noun

toise (plural toises)

1. (historical) A former French unit of length, corresponding to about 1.949 metres.

Anagrams

• ETSOI, OSETI, osite

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /twaz/

Etymology 1

From Old French teise (cognate with Italian tesa), from Latin t?nsa (bracchia) (“outstretched (arms)”), from tend? (“stretch”).

Noun

toise f (plural toises)

1. toise
2. height gauge

Derived terms

• toiser

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

toise

1. first-person singular present indicative of toiser
2. third-person singular present indicative of toiser
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of toiser
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of toiser
5. second-person singular imperative of toiser

Anagrams

• ostie

Further reading

• “toise” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Irish

Alternative forms

• tois

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

toise f (genitive singular toise, nominative plural toisí)

1. Alternative form of tomhas (“measure, gauge; guess, riddle”)
2. size, measure, measurement
3. dimension

Declension

Derived terms

• aontoiseach (“one-dimensional”, adjective)

Mutation

Further reading

• "toise" in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
• Entries containing “toise” in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm, 1959, by Tomás de Bhaldraithe.
• Entries containing “toise” in New English-Irish Dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge.