acre

noun

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\ 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 Each of its 22 castaway-chic bungalows is nestled on its own acre of beachfront or forest, offering the ultimate privacy. — Kris Fordham, CNN, 3 Jan. 2022 There’s a bitter saying in this old timber community that not one more acre of private land should become public. — Los Angeles Times, 20 Dec. 2021 The focus of People for the Park remains the separate acre of land bounded by Meadowbrook, Lee and Tullamore. — Thomas Jewell, cleveland, 29 Nov. 2021 The report notes that rental rates, which companies pay before production, haven't been raised since 1987 and remain at $1.50 to $2 per acre per year. — Kathryn Watson, CBS News, 26 Nov. 2021 The circa 1926 house, set on just over an acre, was one of the first homes built in Bel-Air, said listing agent Drew Fenton of Hilton & Hyland. — E.b. Solomont, WSJ, 19 Nov. 2021 The fourth garden, in collaboration with the Avondale community, will sit on nearly an acre nearby. — Anne Saker, The Enquirer, 24 Sep. 2021 In Southlake, Gabriella Miller sold the five-bedroom home situated on almost an acre at 3709 Sunrise Ranch Road. — Dallas News, 29 Aug. 2021 The fate of this land — just over an acre — has been debated almost as long as the SALT talks. — Washington Post, 29 Apr. 2021

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 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.