A V O 
the crofs aide of the cathedral of Durham, to which he 
had been a benefadfor. He wrote, i. Philobiblos; con¬ 
taining directions for the management of his library at Ox¬ 
ford. 2. Epiftolas Familiarum; fome of which are writ¬ 
ten to the famous Petrarch. 3. Orationes ad Principes; 
mentioned by Bale and Pitts. 
AUNl'S, a province of France, before the late divifion 
into departments, bounded on the eaft and fouth by Sain- 
tonge, of wliich it was formerly a part, on the welt by 
the fea, and on the north by Poitou, and comprehends 
the ides of Rhe and Oleron; the land is fertile, and pro¬ 
duces great quantities of corn and wine; it is well water¬ 
ed by the rivers Sevre and Charente, by the means of 
which, and its fea-port, it carries on a confiderable com¬ 
merce, efpecially in fait, which is fuppofed to be the belt 
in France. 
AUNT,/'. It ante, Fr. amita, Lat. ] A father or mother’s 
filter; correlative to nephew or niece: 
Who meets us here ? my niece Plantagenet, 
Led in the hand of her kind aunt of Glo’fter. Shakefpeare. 
AVOCA'DO, or A viga'to, Pear. See Laurus. 
To A'VOCATE, v.a. \_avoco, Lat.] To call off from 
bufinefs ; to call away.—Their divelture of mortality dif- 
penfes them from thofe laborious and avocating duties to 
diltreffed Chriltians, and their fecular relations, which are 
here requilite. Boyle. 
AVOC A'TION,yi The aft of calling afide.—The buf- 
tle of bufinefs, the avocations of our fenfes, and the din 
of a clamorous world, are impediments. Glanville.— God 
does frequently injedt into the foul blelfed impulfes to du¬ 
ty, and powerful avocations from fin. South. —The bufi¬ 
nefs that calls; or the call that fummons away.—By the 
fecular cares and avocations which accompany marriage, 
the clergy, have been furniflied with (kill in common life. 
jitter bury. 
AVOC ATO'RI A,f. a mandate of the emperor of Ger¬ 
many, addrelfed to fome prince, in order to flop his unlaw¬ 
ful proceedings in any caufe appealed to him. 
AVO'GLl, a town of Perlia, in the province of Adir- 
beitzan, eighteen leagues fouth-eaft of Tauris. 
To AVOID', v.a. '[voider, Fr.] To Ihun; to decline.— 
The wifdom of plealing God, by doing what he com¬ 
mands, and avoiding what he forbids. Tillotfon. —Toefcape; 
as, He avoided the blow by turning alide. To endeavour 
to Ihun. Toevacuate; to quit. Toemit; to throw out. 
—A toad contains not thofe urinary parts which are found 
in other animals to avoid that ferous excretion. Brown .— 
Tooppofe; to hinder effect. To vacate; to annul. 
To Avoid, v.n. To retire.—And Saul calt the javelin; 
for he faid, 1 will finite David even to the wall with it: 
and David avoided out of his prefence twice. 1 Sam. —To 
become void or vacant. — Bilhoprics are nor included under 
benefices : fo that, if a perfon takes a bifhopric, it does 
not avoid by force of that law of pluralities, but by the 
ancient common law. Aylijfe. 
AVOID'ABLE, adj. That which may be avoided, ftvun- 
ned, orefcaped.—To take feveral things for granted, is 
hardly avoidable to any one, vvhofe talk it is to fliew the 
fal'ehood or improbability of any truth. Locke. —Liable to 
be vacated or annulled.—The charters were n.ot avoidable 
for the king’s nonage; and, if there could have been any 
ftich pretence, that alone would not avoid them. Hale. 
AVO!D'ANCE,y. The act of avoiding.—It is appoint¬ 
ed to give us vigour in (lie purfuit of what is good, or in 
the avoidance of what is hurtful. Watts. —Tlve courfe by 
which any thing is carried off.—For avoidances and drain¬ 
ings of water, where there is too much, we (hall fpeak of. 
Bacon. —The adt or hate of becoming vacant. The ad! of 
annulling. 
Avoidance, in the canon law, is of an eccleliaftical 
benefice, as oppofed to plena) ty, where there is a want of 
a lawful incumbent. And this happens feveral ways: 1. 
The molt ufual and known means, by which any fpiritual 
promotion doth become void is, by the adt of God, name- 
A V O 567 
ly, by the death of the incumbent thereof. Of this the 
patron is obliged to take notice at his peril, in order to pre¬ 
vent a lapfe, and not to expedt an intimation from the or¬ 
dinary. WatJ. c. 1. 2. By refignalion, which is the act of 
the incumbent. And this being neceffarily made into the 
hands of the ordinary, and not valid but as admitted by 
him, the voidance confequent upon it is to be notified by 
the ordinary to the patron. Gibf. 792. 3. By cejjion, or the 
acceptance of a benefice incompatible, which alfo is the 
adt of the incumbent In which cafe, the benefice, if of 
8!. a year or upwards in the king’s books, is void by adt of 
parliament; and no notice is needful. Watf. c. 2. 4. By 
deprivation, which is the act of the ordinary: which voi¬ 
dance, being created by fentence in the eccleliaftical court, 
mult be notified to the patron. Gibf. 792. 5. By act of the 
law : as, in cafe of fimony; not fubferibing the articles or 
declaration; or not reading the articles or the common 
prayer: all which being voidances by adt of parliament, 
are to be vinderftood (with regard to the times of com¬ 
mencement of Inch voidances, and the notice of them) ac¬ 
cording to the diredtions of the refpedtive adts. 
AV 01 D'ER,yi The perfon that avoids or lhun,s any 
thing. The perfon that carries any thing away. The vefi- 
fei in which things are carried,away. 
AVOID'LESS, adj. Inevitable; that which cannot be 
avoided.—That avoidlefs ruin in which the whole empire 
would be involved. Dennis. 
AVOl R DUPO'IS,yi [avoir dupoids , Fr. to have weight. ] 
By the law of England there is only one weight and one 
jneafure for all the realm : that weight is the troy weight; 
but cultom has ellablilhed, and fubfequent laws confirmed, 
the ufe of that called the avoirdupois, for the purpofe (as 
it fhould feem from the name) of alluring full weight of 
all the coarfer commodities, and Inch as are particularly 
liable to wade, &c. Bakers in corporation-towns ufe the 
troy-weight, but all others ufe the avoirdupois. Its origin 
does not appear to be very accurately traced, and the pro- 
ortion it bears to the troy not very exactly afeertained : 
y fome the pound is Hated to be equal to 140Z. 11 dwts. 
20grs. or 7004grs. troy; by others, to be nearly 14oz. 
12dwts. or 7008 grs. troy. But, by a very nice experi¬ 
ment made by Mr. Ward, in the beginning of this cen¬ 
tury, it was found to be 140Z. 11 dwt. 15A gr. or 6999J gr. 
troy. This difference may be accounted for, in fome de¬ 
gree, when it is conlidered how long the prefent ftandards 
have been in conllant ufe, and that fome of them have in 
fadt become fo inaccurate, that, if the proper number of 
the finaller weights be put again!! the larger ones, they 
will not be found to correlpond. Perhaps, however, tlve 
pound avoirdupois may not be improperly Hated at 140Z, 
xidwts. i6grs. or 70oogrs. troy: its proportion to the 
pound troy will then be as 175 to 144; and the ounce avoir¬ 
dupois will be to the ounce troy as 175 to 192. 
AVOI'SE, a town of France, in the department of the 
Sarte, four leagues from La Fleche. 
AVOLA'TION,yi [from avolo, Lat. to flyaway.] The 
ad! of flying away; flight; efcape.—Strangers, or tlve 
fungous parcels about candles, only fignify a pluvious air, 
hindering the avolation of the favillous particles. Biown. 
A'VON, a river of England, which palTes through Sa- 
lifbury, and runs into the fea a little below Chriflch'urch 
in Hamplhire. 
Avon, a river of England, which pafles by Bath and 
Briflol, and runs into the Severn at Kingroad. 
Avon, a river of England, which riles in Northamp- 
tonflvire, and pafles through Staflordflvire and Worcefter- 
fhire, and joins the Severn at Tewkefbury in Gloucelierlh. 
Avon, a river of Scotland, which runs into the Dee, 
near Banchoryteinan in Kincardinfhire. 
Avon, a river of Wales, which runs' into the Briflol 
Channel, fix miles fouth of Neath, in Glamorganfliire. 
AVONVA'NE, a river of North Wales, which runs 
into the Irilh Sea, fix miles weft of Dolgelly, in the coun¬ 
ty of Merioneth. 
A VOS ET' T A, in ornithology. See Recuryirostra. 
AVOSTOfLA, 
