Poids

Poids is the French term for weight, referring to the force exerted by gravity on a body and, in everyday language, to the perceived heaviness of an object. In physics, weight is a force, defined as the product of mass and the local gravitational acceleration (W = m g). Because g varies with location, weight changes with where the object is found; mass remains constant across locations.

Units and measurement: In the International System (SI), weight is measured in newtons (N). In everyday contexts, people often report body weight in kilograms (kg) or pounds (lb). In some engineering and historical contexts, kilogram-force (kgf) or pounds-force (lbf) are used as alternative units. Scales measure weight as a force, while balance scales compare masses. Taring and zeroing are common procedures to account for containers.

Other uses: In statistics and data analysis, "poids" denotes weights assigned to observations to reflect their importance or frequency, used in weighted averages, regressions, and data fusion. In nutrition, medicine, and ergonomics, body weight informs dosing, risk assessment, and design criteria.

Etymology: The word derives from Latin pondus, via Old French poid/poids, reflecting the historical concept of heaviness.

See also: Mass, gravity, buoyancy, scale.