Etymology
From Middle English acre, aker, from Old English æcer (field where crops are grown), from Proto-West Germanic *ak(k)r, from Proto-Germanic *akraz (field), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵros (field). Cognate with Scots acre, aker, acker (acre, field, arable land), North Frisian ecir (field, a measure of land), West Frisian eker (field), Dutch akker (field), German Acker (field, acre), Norwegian åker (field) and Swedish åker (field), Icelandic akur (field), Latin ager (land, field, acre, countryside), Ancient Greek ἀγρός or agrós (field), Sanskrit अज्र or ájra (field, plain).
Noun
acre (plural acres)
- An English unit of land area (symbol: a. or ac.) originally denoting a day's plowing for a yoke of oxen, now standardized as 4,840 square yards or 4,046.86 square meters.
- Any of various similar units of area in other systems.
Derived terms
- acreable
- acreage
- acre's breadth
- acred
- acre's length
- acreless
- acreme
- black acre
- church acre
- Cornish acre
- Cunningham acre
- English acre
- Irish acre
- Scottish acre
- share acre
- statute acre
- tenantry acre
- Welsh acre
- white acre
Related terms
- acorn
- Greenacre
- wiseacre
Credits
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