a·cre
 acre
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- pronunciation:
- eI
k
r
- features:
- Word History, Word Explorer
| part of speech: |
noun |
| definition: |
An acre is unit of measurement that is used to measure land. The area of a football field is a bit more than one acre. Actually, it is one and one third acres. An acre is equal to 43,560 square feet.
Tony's uncle bought a small farm. The farm area is thirty acres, and his house will be on one of the acres. |
The word
acre comes from the early English word
acer. This word simply meant "a ploughed field." When the word "acre" was first used for an amount of land, it meant the amount of land that a pair of oxen could plough in one day. A three-acre field might differ in size from region to region. Later a law was passed in England that made an acre a standard unit of area.