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

The fires came on the heels of a 30,000 acre wildfire that erupted on Friday in Logan County and destroyed more than 100 homes. —Bill Hutchinson, ABC News, 19 Mar. 2025

There are excellent wines produced every year from these cultivars, but the reality is that Cabernet Sauvignon is the King of Napa Valley, not only in terms of acres planted - more than 50% of the plantings in the valley are to this grape - but also in terms of press. —Tom Hyland, Forbes, 18 Mar. 2025

The big picture: The fires that have razed at least 170,000 acres ignited Friday are tied to the same giant storm system that brought tornadoes to the U.S. South, per Axios' Andrew Freedman. —Rebecca Falconer, Axios, 17 Mar. 2025

At High Meadow, Rex Stout grew a hundred and eighty-six varieties of iris on three acres. —Jill Lepore, The New Yorker, 17 Mar. 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