smallest particles or molecules, whether those particles
consist of single atoms or are composed of two or more atoms of the same or
different kinds.

AVOIDANCE (from "avoid," properly to make empty or void, in current usage,
to keep away from, to shun; the word "avoid" is adapted from the O. Fr.
_esvuidier_ or _evider_, to empty out, _voide_, modern _vide_, empty,
connected with Lat. _vacuus_), the action of making empty, void or null,
hence, in law, invalidation, annulment (see CONFESSION AND AVOIDANCE); also
the becoming void or vacant, hence in ecclesiastical law a term signifying
the vacancy of a benefice--that it is _void_ of an incumbent. In general
use, the word means the action of keeping away from anything, shunning or
avoiding.

AVOIRDUPOIS, or AVERDUPOIS (from the French _avoir de pois_, goods of
weight), the name of a system of weights used in Great Britain and America
for all commodities except the precious metals, gems and medicines. The
foundation of the system is the grain. A cubic inch of water weighs 252.458
grains. Of this grain 7000 now (see WEIGHTS AND MEASURES) make a pound
avoirdupois. This pound is divided into 16 oz., and these ounces into 16
drachms.

_Avoirdupois Weight._

Drachm, 16=ounce, 16=pound, 14=stone 2=quarter, 4=hundred, 20=ton.
27.3 grains 437.5 7000 98,000 196,000 grs 112 lb 2240 lb.

AVON, the name of several rivers in England and elsewhere. The word is
Celtic, appearing in Welsh (very frequently) as _afon_, in Manx as _aon_,
and in Gaelic as _abhuinn_ (pronounced _avain_), and is radically identical
with the Sanskrit _ap_, water, and the Lat. _aqua_ and _amnis_. The root
appears more or less disguised in a vast number of river names all over the
Celtic area in Europe. Thus, besides such forms as _Evan_, _Aune_, _Anne_,
_Ive_, _Auney_, _Inney,_ &c., in the British Islands, _Aff_, _Aven_,
_Avon_, _Aune_ appear in Brittany and elsewhere in France, _Avenza_ and
_Avens_ in Italy, _Avia_ in Portugal, and _Avono_ in Spain; while the
terminal syllable of a large proportion of the Latinized names of French
rivers, such as the _Sequana_, the _Matrona_ and the _Garumna_, seems
originally to have been the same word. The names Punj_ab_, Do_ab_, &c.,
show the root in a clearer shape.

In England the following are the principal rivers of this name.

1. The EAST or HAMPSHIRE AVON rises in Wiltshire south of Marlborough, and
watering the Vale of Pew