acre
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
a unit for measuring an area of land, equal to 4,840 square yards.
a unit of land area measurement in the imperial and US customary systems, equivalent to 4,840 square yards or approximately 4,047 square metres.
Simple“The farmer decided to sell ten acres of his land to a developer.”
In context“The estate encompasses over five hundred acres of rolling hills and ancient woodland, making it one of the largest private holdings in the county.”
UsageCountable; often used with numbers to specify the size of a property.
- 02 C1 Advanced
a very large area of land or space.
a wide expanse or large area of land, typically used in the plural to emphasize size.
Simple“The new shopping mall has acres of parking space for customers.”
In context“The library was vast, with acres of shelving dedicated to rare manuscripts and historical records.”
UsageUsually plural ('acres of').
- 03 C1 Advanced
a very large amount of something, like paper or information.
a figurative large quantity of something, often used to describe written material or physical objects.
Simple“The journalist wrote acres of text about the political scandal.”
In context“The project generated acres of paperwork that the legal team had to review before the trial could begin.”
UsageUsually plural ('acres of').
“The blaze has already burned 1,100 hectares (about 2,700 acres) in the department of Landes, approaching the village of Luglon.”
“In the Rhinogydd mountain range in Gwynedd, which is home to a National Nature Reserve and a Special Area of Conservation, a blaze burned for nearly two weeks and affected over 2,000 acres.”
Borrowed from French and Latin Acre, from Ancient Greek Ἄκο (Áko) or Ἄκη (Ákē), from Hebrew עכו (ʿAkko), of unknown origin.
From Portuguese Acre, of uncertain origin.
Probably a variant of Acker or Acree/Ackary, though also possibly Americanization of Norwegian Aakre or Low German Egger.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.