/peɪz/, /piːz/
OriginFrom Middle English peysen, from Anglo-Norman peiser, peser and Middle French peser, from Latin pēnsāre (literally “weigh”). Doublet of poise.
- obsoleteTo weigh or measure the weight of; to poise.
- figuratively, obsoleteTo weigh or take the measure of (an immaterial object).
- figuratively, obsoleteTo weigh down, retard
“I speak too long; but 'tis to peise the time,
To eke it, and to draw it out in length, […]”
- UK, dialectal, obsoleteA weight; a poise.
“To weigh pence with a peise.”
- obsoleteA heavy blow, an impact.
“Great Ptolomæe it for his lemans sake / Ybuilded all of glasse, by Magicke powre, / And also it impregnable did make; / Yet when his loue was false, he with a peaze it brake.”
Formspeises(present, singular, third-person) · peising(participle, present) · peised(participle, past) · peised(past) · peises(plural)