arpent

American  

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

noun

arpents plural

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• arpents
  plural

Etymology

Origin of arpent

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

arpent arpents

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

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

An arpent yields one hundred quintals of hay a year, worth three livres the quintal.

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

In general, in the regions of large farms, the proprietor obtains ten livres the arpent if the cultivation is very good, and three livres when ordinary.

From The Ancient Regime by Durand, John

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

Stengel's critique neatly encapsulates a view that has remained unchanged since Voltaire dismissed North America as "a few arpents of snow."

From Time Magazine Archive

The 1681 census discloses that Jean and Marguerite owned two guns, their 30 arpents, eight cattle, and had four children at home.

From Time Magazine Archive

The cultivation of even a few arpents required a great deal of manual drudgery.

From Crusaders of New France A Chronicle of the Fleur-de-Lis in the Wilderness Chronicles of America, Volume 4 by Munro, William Bennett

The sons claim and receive their shares of the arpents of land when those boys are grown and married.

From The Landloper by Day, Holman

A farmer takes perhaps about one hundred and fifty arpents, for three, six, or nine years.

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