arpent

American  

[ahr-puhnt, ar-pahn] / ˈɑr pənt, arˈpɑ̃ /

noun

plural

arpents

1. an old French unit of area equal to about one acre (0.4 hectare). It is still used in the province of Quebec and in parts of Louisiana.

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arpent British  

/ arpɑ̃, ˈɑːpənt /

noun

1. a former French unit of length equal to 190 feet (approximately 58 metres)

2. an old French unit of land area equal to about one acre: still used in Quebec and Louisiana

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Etymology

Origin of arpent

1570–80; < Middle French < Latin arepennis half-acre < Gaulish; akin to MIr airchenn unit of area

Example Sentences

An arpent des eaux et forets, or legal acre of France, of which 1.

From Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Year 1799-1804 — Volume 1 by Ross, Thomasina

We're goin' to have half an arpent square of flowers, an' she'll love to work among 'em.

From Back to God's Country and Other Stories by Curwood, James Oliver

Seven hundred vines, three feet apart, yield a feuillette, which is about two and a half pi�ces, to the arpent.

From Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 2 by Randolph, Thomas Jefferson

But I'm not go more mebbe t'ree arpent, w'en      de sky is get black all roun', An' de win' she blow lak I never see, an'      de beeg snowstorm come down.

From The Habitant and Other French-Canadian Poems by Drummond, William Henry

The rents of the corn-lands, farmed for money, are about ten or twelve livres the arpent.

From Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 2 by Randolph, Thomas Jefferson