acre

noun

\ˈā-kər

Definition of acre

(Entry 1 of 3)

1a 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

Acre

geographical name (1)

\ˈä-krē,

-(ˌ)krā

Definition of Acre (Entry 2 of 3)

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

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

Definition of Acre (Entry 3 of 3)

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

Examples of acre in a Sentence

Noun

The house sits on two acres of land. They own hundreds of acres of farmland.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Susan Trask appeared with her two daughters at at a recent Crown Point City Council meeting and presented a petition with 280 signatures asking that residents be allowed to own up to four hens on lots less than five acres. — Michelle L. Quinn, Post-Tribune, "Crown Point woman asks city council to consider letting her keep chickens 'for food, educational purposes'," 13 July 2018 Beyond the grass and past the acres of corn, a row of treetops marks a creek where Native Americans once settled. — Liz Arnold, Longreads, "Making Peace with the Site of a Suicide," 11 July 2018 In Nixon's administration, and later under President Gerald Ford, Reed co-wrote the landmark Endangered Species Act, helped pass the Clean Water Acts, turned more than 80 million acres of Alaska into preserves and defended California's redwoods. — Alex Harris, miamiherald, "Nathaniel Reed, 84, co-wrote the Endangered Species Act and icon of Everglades protection," 11 July 2018 Many sites with acres of krill are drawing in the salmon, whales and marine birds. — Tom Stienstra, SFChronicle.com, "Chart-buster times: salmon to whales, bears to bighorns," 8 July 2018 The Clark, as it's called, is a museum-cum-research institute surrounded by 140 acres of lush countryside. — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "New England museums to visit this summer and fall," 4 July 2018 Within a matter of days, the blaze charred more than 73,000 acres of land. — Gary Robbins, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Temperature could hit 117 degrees in San Diego County during weekend heat wave," 4 July 2018 One of the drone shows this year is taking place at Travis Air Force Base in northern California, not far from acres of burning brush. — Carter Evans, CBS News, "Drones replace Fourth of July fireworks amid wildfire fears in the West," 3 July 2018 The day raging flames consumed acres of dry scrub and engulfed the desert hills, spreading until a wall of fire trapped 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots. — Bayan Wang, azcentral, "Prescott, still healing, honors 19 fallen Granite Mountain Hotshots five years later," 30 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'acre.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for acre

Noun

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 ájraḥ,

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.

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