acre

noun

ˈā-kər 

1

a

archaic : a field especially of arable land or pastureland

b

acres plural : lands, estate

2

: any of various units of area

specifically : a unit in the U.S. and England equal to 43,560 square feet (4047 square meters) see Weights and Measures Table

3

: a broad expanse or great quantity

acres of free publicity

Examples of acre in a Sentence

The house sits on two acres of land.

They own hundreds of acres of farmland.

Recent Examples on the Web

Twelve years after the Kewaunee Power Station shuttered, wounding the local economy, owner EnergySolutions is seeking government approval to build a new nuclear plant at the site — and is trying to buy hundreds of acres of farmland around it. —Miranda Dunlap, jsonline.com, 6 Oct. 2025

Church members voted to buy 10 acres on Lebanon Road in 1964, broke ground in 1965 and held their first service in 1966. —Andy Humbles, Nashville Tennessean, 6 Oct. 2025

Related California’s 700 Broadway in Santa Monica offers 196 residences with interiors by Marmol Radziner and nearly three-quarters of an acre of private parkland. —Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 6 Oct. 2025

According to the nonprofit, the expansion project will add 10 acres with new spaces for education and gathering as well as an arboretum and an accessible event lawn. —Idaho Statesman, 6 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English aker, acre, going back to Old English æcer, going back to Germanic *akraz (whence also, with k geminate in West Germanic, Old Saxon akkar "field," Old High German ackar, Old Norse akr "arable land," Gothic akrs "field"), going back to Indo-European *h₂eǵros, whence also Latin ager, "piece of land, field," Greek agrós, Sanskrit ájrah

Note: This Indo-European noun is traditionally linked to the verbal base *h₂eǵ- "drive (cattle, etc.)" (see agent), on the assumption that *h₂eǵ-ros originally meant "pasture," "fallow land," onto which the cattle were driven, and later developed other senses, as "cultivated field." The semantic plausibility of such a derivation has recently been questioned, however.

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing acre

• acre-foot
• acre-inch
• God's acre

Rhymes for acre

• automaker
• boilermaker
• cabinetmaker
• coffeemaker
• troublemaker
• undertaker
• blackacre
• caretaker
• clockmaker
• dressmaker
• filmmaker
• homemaker

Kids Definition

acre

noun

ˈā-kər 

1

plural : property consisting of land : estate

2

: a unit of area equal to 43,560 square feet (about 4047 square meters) see measure

Etymology

Old English æcer "field, cultivated land"

Geographical Definition

Acre 1 of 2

geographical name (1)

ˈä-krē  -(ˌ)krā 

state in western Brazil bordering on Peru and Bolivia; capital Rio Branco area 59,343 square miles (153,698 square kilometers), population 733,559

Acre

2 of 2

geographical name (2)

ˈä-kər 

ˈā-kər,

ˈä-krə 

variants or Hebrew ʽAkko or Old Testament Accho

ˈä-kō 

ˈā-

or New Testament Ptolemaïs

ˌtä-lə-ˈmā-əs 

city and port at the head of a bay on the Mediterranean Sea north of Mount Carmel in northwestern Israel population 37,400