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• acre
  acre

  noun

  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.
• Acre
  Acre

  noun

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

acre

¹ American  

[ey-ker] / ˈeɪ kər /

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.

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idioms

1. forty acres and a mule. mule.

Acre ² American  

[ah-kruh, ah-ker, ey-ker] / ˈɑ krə, ˈɑ kər, ˈeɪ kər /

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.

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Acre ¹ British  

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)

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acre ² British  

/ 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

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acre Scientific  

/ ā′kər /

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.

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Other Word Forms

• half-acre
  noun

Etymology

Origin of acre

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-; see also acorn, agrarian, agrestic, agriculture, agro-

Explanation

An acre is a unit for measuring area, especially larger areas like farms. An acre is 4840 square yards. It's pretty easy to imagine a square yard: three feet by three feet. Now imagine 4840 of them and you've got an acre. That's a pretty large chunk of land, and acres are used for measuring big areas in some English-speaking countries. Large areas such as farms, forests, and golf courses are likely to be measured in acres. Farms in particular need many acres to grow crops and give the animals space to live.

Example Sentences

On 3,000 acres in northeastern North Dakota, Amundson estimates it usually costs him around $480 to plant an acre of corn.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 30, 2026

“You’re looking at about $80 an acre additional crop expense right there,” he estimated.

From Salon • Apr. 25, 2026

Sharing an image of the plot on Instagram, the couple wrote: “WOO!!! We just bought our dream 18 acre property. SO excited. Feels surreal.”

From MarketWatch • Apr. 24, 2026

Historically, these groves would throw off 500 boxes per acre.

From Slate • Apr. 20, 2026

I’d read somewhere that off-road land in parched West Texas sold for as little as a hundred dollars an acre.

From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls

Related Words

• acreage
• estate
• plot
• property