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

Photo: Dero Sanford Set on 120 acres, the modern art museum is the brainchild of Walmart heiress Alice Walton. — Alina Dizik, WSJ, "To Discover an Up-and-Coming Neighborhood, Look for the Museum," 21 Nov. 2018 Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Catastrophic wildfires continue to devastate California, destroying more than 236,000 acres (including entire towns), taking at least 59 lives, and forcing tens of thousands to evacuate. — Rachel Sugar, Vox, "It’s hard to give up cash.," 15 Nov. 2018 In Bethel, homes can span acres, apartment vacancies are hard to come by and mobile home parks hide behind clusters of evergreen trees lining the state highway. — Scott Greenstone, The Seattle Times, "For homeless students in rural Washington, just getting to school is hard," 10 Sep. 2018 The fire has burned more than 300 acres (121 hectares), but rains expected from the hurricane could provide relief. — Fox News, "Wind-whipped wildfire burns in Maui ahead of hurricane," 24 Aug. 2018 Northern California’s Carr fire, first reported on July 23rd, has burned more than 177,000 acres, destroyed more than 1,000 houses, and killed eight, including two firefighters. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "Watch as a C-130 Flies Through Hell to Fight the Carr Wildfire," 9 Aug. 2018 Will County had the most development of natural and agricultural lands of any county in the region, adding more than 45,000 acres of residential, commercial, and industrial development, the plan stated. — Susan Demar Lafferty, Daily Southtown, "CMAP plan draws variety of comments," 14 July 2018 The property, located at 271 Indian Hill Road, sits on one and a half acres, which includes a garden, custom tree house, tree swing, and a grove of cedar, walnut, and more. — Jenny Xie, Curbed, "Restored 1756 Martha’s Vineyard farmhouse asks $2.25M," 10 July 2018 By Monday, the fire had spread to more than 44,000 acres, most of it steep and rugged terrain of oak forests and brush. — New York Times, "‘The New Normal’: Wildfires Roar Across the West, Again," 2 July 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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