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acre

 - 8 dictionary results

a⋅cre

[ey-ker]
–noun
1. a common variable unit of land measure, now equal in the U.S. and Great Britain to 43,560 square feet or 1/640 square mile (4047 square meters).
2. acres,
a. lands; land: wooded acres.
b. Informal. large quantities: acres of Oriental rugs.
3. Archaic. a plowed or sown field.

Origin:
bef. 1000; ME aker, OE æcer; c. OFris ekker, OS akkar, OHG ackar (G Acker), ON akr, Goth akers, L ager, Gk agrós, Skt ájra-; see also acorn, agrarian, agrestic, agriculture, agro-

A⋅cre

[ah-kruh for 1; ah-ker, ey-ker for 2]
–noun
1. a state in W Brazil. 301,628; 58,900 sq. mi. (152,550 sq. km). Capital: Rio Branco.
2. a seaport in NW Israel: besieged and captured by Crusaders 1191. 38,700.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To acre
a·cre   (ā'kər)   
n.  
  1. Abbr. a. or ac. A unit of area in the U.S. Customary System, used in land and sea floor measurement and equal to 160 square rods, 4,840 square yards, or 43,560 square feet. See Table at measurement.

  2. acres Property in the form of land; estate.

  3. A wide expanse, as of land or other matter. Often used in the plural: "Everything was streaky pink marble and acres of textureless carpeting" (Anne Tyler).

  4. Archaic A field or plot of arable land.


[Middle English aker, field, acre, from Old English æcer; see agro- in Indo-European roots.]
A·cre   (ä'krə, ä'kər)   
A port city of northern Israel on the Bay of Haifa. During the Crusades it changed hands many times between Christians and Muslims. Acre was ceded to the Arabs in the United Nations partition of Palestine in 1948 but was captured by Israel shortly thereafter. Population: 45,900.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

acre 
O.E. æcer "tilled field, open land," from P.Gmc. *akraz "field, pasture" (cf. O.N. akr, O.Fris. ekkr, O.H.G. achar), from PIE *agros "field" (cf. L. ager "field, land," Gk. agros, Skt. ajras "plain, open country"). Originally in Eng. without reference to dimension; in late O.E. the amount of land a yoke of oxen could plow in a day, afterward defined by statute to a piece 40 poles by 4, or an equivalent shape (5 Edw. I, 31 Edw. III, 24 Hen. VIII). Original sense retained in God's acre "churchyard."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Science Dictionary
acre   (ā'kər)  Pronunciation Key 
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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Bible Dictionary

Acre

is the translation of a word (tse'med), which properly means a yoke, and denotes a space of ground that may be ploughed by a yoke of oxen in a day. It is about an acre of our measure (Isa. 5:10; 1 Sam. 14:14).

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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Encyclopedia

acre

unit of land measurement in the British Imperial and United States Customary systems, equal to 43,560 square feet, or 160 square rods. One acre is equivalent to 0.4047 hectares (4,047 square metres). Derived from Middle English aker (from Old English aecer) and akin to Latin ager ("field"), the acre had one origin in the typical area that could be plowed in one day with a yoke of oxen pulling a wooden plow. The Anglo-Saxon acre was defined as a strip of land 1 110 furlong, or 40 4 rods (660 66 feet). One acre gradually came to denote a piece of land of any shape measuring the present 4,840 square yards. Larger and smaller variant acres, ranging from 0.19 to 0.911 hectares, were once employed throughout the British Isles

Learn more about acre with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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