acre

C1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈeɪ.kɚ/ UK /ˈeɪ.kə/ See IPA manual

noun Freq #16204

Meanings

1

noun
A unit of land area equal to about 4,047 square metres.

They bought a small farm of about ten acres.
2

noun
A wide expanse or large amount of something (informal).

I love my new house; there are acres of space inside!

Thesaurus

Synonyms

acairarpenarpentbighacawneycawnycollopcovercyfairdematherwfeddan

Word family

Forms acres

Derived forms acre-daleacre-footacre-inchacre-landacre-staffacreableacreageacredacrefulacrelessacremanacreme

Related forms acorngreenacrehufewiseacre

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-? Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵros Proto-Germanic *akraz Proto-West Germanic *akr Old English æcer Middle English aker English acre From Middle English acre, aker, from Old English æcer (“field where crops are grown”), from Proto-West Germanic *akr, from Proto-Germanic *akraz (“field”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵros (“field”). Doublet of agriculture. Cognate with Scots acre, aker, acker (“acre, field, arable land”), North Frisian ecir (“field, a measure of land”), West Frisian eker (“field”), Dutch akker (“field”), German Acker (“field, acre”), Norwegia…

acre Middle English æcer Old English *akr Proto-West Germanic *akraz Proto-Germanic *h₂éǵros Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Mathematics & Measurement Register & Style

# acre

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˈeɪ.kɚ
**IPA (UK):** ˈeɪ.kə
**Frequency rank:** 16204

## Meanings
1. A unit of land area equal to about 4,047 square metres.
2. A wide expanse or large amount of something (informal).

## Examples
- They bought a small farm of about ten acres.
- I love my new house; there are acres of space inside!

## Synonyms
- acair
- arpen
- arpent
- bigha
- cawney
- cawny
- collop
- cover
- cyfair
- demath
- erw
- feddan

## Derived Forms
- acre-dale
- acre-foot
- acre-inch
- acre-land
- acre-staff
- acreable
- acreage
- acred
- acreful
- acreless
- acreman
- acreme

## Related Forms
- acorn
- greenacre
- hufe
- wiseacre

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: acre
- Root: æcer
- Root: *akr
- Root: *akraz
- Root: *h₂éǵros

## Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-? Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵros Proto-Germanic *akraz Proto-West Germanic *akr Old English æcer Middle English aker English acre From Middle English acre, aker, from Old English æcer (“field where crops are grown”), from Proto-West Germanic *akr, from Proto-Germanic *akraz (“field”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵros (“field”). Doublet of agriculture. Cognate with Scots acre, aker, acker (“acre, field, arable land”), North Frisian ecir (“field, a measure of land”), West Frisian eker (“field”), Dutch akker (“field”), German Acker (“field, acre”), Norwegia…

## AI Etymology
Acre is from Middle English acre, aker, from Old English æcer (“field where crops are grown”), from Proto-West Germanic *akr, from Proto-Germanic *akraz (“field”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵros (“field”). Doublet of agriculture. Cognate with Scots acre, aker, acker (“acre, field, arable land”), North Frisian ecir (“field, a measure of land”), West Frisian eker (“field”), Dutch akker (“field”), German Acker (“field, acre”), Norwegia… In present-day use, it can mean a unit of land area equal to about 4,047 square metres, or a wide expanse or large amount of something (informal). Related forms include acorn, greenacre, hufe, wiseacre. Derived formations include acre-dale, acre-foot, acre-inch, acre-land, acre-staff.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Mathematics & Measurement
- Register & Style

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