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

The lineal arpent was the equivalent of one hundred and ninety-two English feet.

From The Seigneurs of Old Canada : A Chronicle of New World Feudalism by Munro, William Bennett

I learned in the course of my walk that she was the daughter of a small farmer: the farm was small indeed, being about half an arpent, or acre.

From Travels through the South of France and the Interior of Provinces of Provence and Languedoc in the Years 1807 and 1808 by Pinkney, Lt-Col.

In many places it has doubled within the last twenty-five years; an arpent now selling for 1000 francs, which was formerly sold for 500.

From Travels in France during the years 1814-15 Comprising a residence at Paris, during the stay of the allied armies, and at Aix, at the period of the landing of Bonaparte, in two volumes. by Alison, Archibald, Sir

An homme de vignes, which consists of seven hundred plants, three feet apart, yields generally about three quarters of a pi�ce, which is nearly four pi�ces to the arpent.

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