ACRE, a land measure used by English-speaking races. De rived from the O.E. acer and cognate with the Lat. alter, Gr.
p6s, Sans. ajras, it has retained its original meaning "open coun try," in such phrases as "God's acre," a churchyard, or "broad acres," etc. As a measure of land, it was first defined as the amount a yoke of oxen could plow in a day; statutory values were enacted in England by acts of Edward I. and III., Henry VIII., George IV.; the Weights and Measures Act 1878 defines it as 4,84osq.yds. This is the American acre. In addition to this "statute" or "imperial acre," other "acres" are still, though rarely, used in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and certain English counties. The Scottish acre contains 6,i5o.4sq.yds. ; the Irish acre 7,84osq. yds.; in Wales, the land measures erw (4,32osq.yds.) stang (3,240 sq.yds.) and paladr are called "acres"; the Leicestershire acre (2,3o84sq.yds.), Westmorland acre (6,76osq.yds.) and Cheshire acre (io,24osq.yds.) are examples of local values.