*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of acre

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 æc

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
noun

An English unit of land area (symbol: a. or ac.) originally denoting a day's ploughing for a yoke of oxen, now standardized as 4,840 square yards or 4,046.86 square metres. · An area of 10,240 square yards or 4 quarters. · Any of various similar units of area in other systems. · A wide expanse.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

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”), Norwegian åker (“field”) and Swedish åker (“field”), Icelandic akur (“field”), Latin ager (“land, field, acre, countryside”), Ancient Greek ἀγρός (agrós, “field”), Sanskrit अज्र (ájra, “field, plain”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

This page abbreviates 4 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:aker",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-?\nProto-Indo-European *h₂éǵros\nProto-Germanic *akraz\nProto-West Germanic *akr\nOld English æcer\nMiddle English aker\nEnglish acre\n[Appendix:Glossary#inherited|Inherited]] from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*akraz\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*akr\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"æcer\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"aker\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"acre\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"acre\">"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "acre"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English acre"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "æcer",
        "4": "",
        "5": "field where crops are grown"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English æcer (“field where crops are grown”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*akr"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *akr"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*akraz",
        "4": "",
        "5": "field"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *akraz (“field”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*h₂éǵros",
        "4": "",
        "5": "field"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵros (“field”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "agriculture"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of agriculture"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sco",
        "2": "acre"
      },
      "expansion": "Scots acre"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "frr",
        "2": "ecir",
        "3": "",
        "4": "field, a measure of land"
      },
      "expansion": "North Frisian ecir (“field, a measure of land”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fy",
        "2": "eker",
        "3": "",
        "4": "field"
      },
      "expansion": "West Frisian eker (“field”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "akker",
        "3": "",
        "4": "field"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch akker (“field”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Acker",
        "3": "",
        "4": "field, acre"
      },
      "expansion": "German Acker (“field, acre”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "no",
        "2": "åker",
        "3": "",
        "4": "field"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian åker (“field”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sv",
        "2": "åker",
        "3": "",
        "4": "field"
      },
      "expansion": "Swedish åker (“field”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "is",
        "2": "akur",
        "3": "",
        "4": "field"
      },
      "expansion": "Icelandic akur (“field”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "ager",
        "3": "",
        "4": "land, field, acre, countryside"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin ager (“land, field, acre, countryside”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "grc",
        "2": "ἀγρός",
        "3": "",
        "4": "field"
      },
      "expansion": "Ancient Greek ἀγρός (agrós, “field”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sa",
        "2": "अज्र",
        "3": "",
        "4": "field, plain",
        "tr": "ájra"
      },
      "expansion": "Sanskrit अज्र (ájra, “field, plain”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:aker",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-?\nProto-Indo-European *h₂éǵros\nProto-Germanic *akraz\nProto-West Germanic *akr\nOld English æcer\nMiddle English aker\nEnglish acre"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "*h₂eǵ-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂eǵ-#Proto-Indo-European:_drive"
    ],
    [
      "*h₂éǵros",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂éǵros#Proto-Indo-European:_field"
    ],
    [
      "*akraz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/akraz#Proto-Germanic:_field"
    ],
    [
      "*akr",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/akr"
    ],
    [
      "æcer",
      "æcer#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "aker",
      "aker#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "acre",
      "acre#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "aker",
      "aker#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "æcer",
      "æcer#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*akr",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/akr"
    ],
    [
      "*akraz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/akraz"
    ],
    [
      "*h₂éǵros",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂éǵros"
    ],
    [
      "agriculture",
      "agriculture#English"
    ],
    [
      "acre",
      "acre#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "aker",
      "aker#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "acker",
      "acker#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "ecir",
      "ecir#North_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "eker",
      "eker#West_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "akker",
      "akker#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "Acker",
      "Acker#German"
    ],
    [
      "åker",
      "åker#Norwegian"
    ],
    [
      "åker",
      "åker#Swedish"
    ],
    [
      "akur",
      "akur#Icelandic"
    ],
    [
      "ager",
      "ager#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "ἀγρός",
      "ἀγρός#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "अज्र",
      "अज्र#Sanskrit"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [
    {
      "lang": "Hausa",
      "lang_code": "ha",
      "word": "ēkā̀",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "lang_code": "ja",
      "word": "エーカー",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "roman": "ēkā"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Korean",
      "lang_code": "ko",
      "word": "에이커",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "roman": "eikeo"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Malay",
      "lang_code": "ms",
      "word": "ekar",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Malayalam",
      "lang_code": "ml",
      "word": "ഏക്കർ",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "roman": "ēkkaṟ"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Māori",
      "lang_code": "mi",
      "word": "eka",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Niuean",
      "lang_code": "niu",
      "word": "eka",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "lang_code": "nb",
      "word": "acre",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Samoan",
      "lang_code": "sm",
      "word": "'eka",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Swahili",
      "lang_code": "sw",
      "word": "ekari",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Tamil",
      "lang_code": "ta",
      "word": "ஏக்கர்",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "roman": "ēkkar"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Telugu",
      "lang_code": "te",
      "word": "ఎకరా",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "roman": "ekarā"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Telugu",
      "lang_code": "te",
      "word": "ఎకరము",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "roman": "ekaramu"
    }
  ],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "An English unit of land area (symbol: a. or ac.) originally denoting a day's ploughing for a yoke of oxen, now standardized as 4,840 square yards or 4,046.86 square metres.",
        "An area of 10,240 square yards or 4 quarters.",
        "Any of various similar units of area in other systems.",
        "A wide expanse."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "historical",
        "informal",
        "plural-normally"
      ],
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      "rawRecordSha256": "ab9d6af61cac48c65d409d02e7654d5092314828b730fe0bf0e7efbdb8d26d1b",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 23761
    }
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  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
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    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 4,
    "glosses": 0
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}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for acre →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-YWNyZQ