acre

¹

[ey-ker]

noun

1. a common measure of area: in the U.S. and U.K., 1 acre equals 4,840 square yards (4,047 square meters) or 0.405 hectare; 640 acres equals one square mile.

2. acres,

   1. lands; land.

      wooded acres.

   2. Informal.,  large quantities.

      acres of Oriental rugs.

3. Archaic.,  a plowed or sown field.

Acre

²

[ah-kruh, ah-ker, ey-ker]

noun

1. a state in W Brazil. 58,900 sq. mi. (152,550 sq. km). Rio Branco.

2. a seaport in NW Israel: besieged and captured by Crusaders 1191.

Acre

¹

noun

1. a state of W Brazil: mostly unexplored tropical forests; acquired from Bolivia in 1903. Capital: Rio Branco. Pop: 586 942 (2002). Area: 152 589 sq km (58 899 sq miles)

2. Arabic name: `Akka. Hebrew name: `Akko. Old Testament name: Accho. a city and port in N Israel, strategically situated on the Bay of Acre in the E Mediterranean: taken and retaken during the Crusades (1104, 1187, 1191, 1291), taken by the Turks (1517), by Egypt (1832), and by the Turks again (1839). Pop: 45 600 (2001)

acre

²

/ ˈeɪkə /

noun

1. a unit of area used in certain English-speaking countries, equal to 4840 square yards or 4046.86 square metres

2. (plural)

   1. land, esp a large area

   2. informal,  a large amount

      he has acres of space in his room

3. to graze cows on the verge of a road

acre

1. A unit of area in the US Customary System, used in land and sea floor measurement and equal to 43,560 square feet or 4,047 square meters.

Other Word Forms

• half-acre noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of acre¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English aker, Old English æcer; cognate with Old Frisian ekker, Old Saxon akkar, Old High German ackar ( German Acker ), Old Norse akr, Gothic akers, Latin ager, Greek agrós, Sanskrit ájra-; acorn, agrarian, agrestic, agriculture, agro-

Word History and Origins

Origin of acre¹

Old English æcer field, acre; related to Old Norse akr, German Acker, Latin ager field, Sanskrit ajra field

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. forty acres and a mule. mule.

Example Sentences

The blaze consumed 44,000 acres of San Bernardino Mountains territory, injured six firefighters and destroyed or damaged seven structures.

From Los Angeles Times

Department of Energy, which also announced this week that it will open 13 million acres of federal lands for coal mining and provide $625 million to recommission or modernize coal-fired power plants.

From Los Angeles Times

Forest Service will shut down activities on more than 193 million acres of land across 46 states, including at least 154 national forests, according to the agency’s most recent contingency plan, published in September.

From Los Angeles Times

They bought a house on eight acres, and eventually expanded to nine other buildings, including a yoga studio, a wood shop, a barn and a garage.

From Los Angeles Times

The state’s goal is to reduce wildfire risk on 1 million acres of wildlands every year, including by thinning overgrown forests, which is expected to generate roughly 10 million tons of wood waste annually.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• acreage 
• estate 
• plot 
• property