Changes

An '''acre''' is a measure of land [[area]] in both the US Customary and the Imperial systems of measurement. It is the area of a rectangle one [[chain]] by one [[furlong]] or 4840 square [[yard]]s or 43,560 square feet.

An '''acre''' is a measure of land [[area]] in both the US Customary and the Imperial systems of measurement. It is the area of a rectangle one chain (22 yards or 66 feet) by one [[furlong]] (220 yards or 660 feet), an area of 4840 square [[yard]]s or 43,560 square feet.

==Derivation and traditional usage==

==Derivation and traditional usage==

The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word acre in its original sense as a piece of arable land deriving from the [[Old English]] ''æcer'' and various northern European varieties of it – ''ekker'', ''acker'', ''ackar'' etc., The word ''ajra'' in [[Sanskrit]] means field  as does ''agros'' in Greek and ''ager'' in [[Latin]].

The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word acre in its original sense as a piece of arable land deriving from the [[Old English]] ''æcer'' and various northern European varieties of it – ''ekker'', ''acker'', ''ackar'' etc., The word ''ajra'' in [[Sanskrit]] means field  as does ''agros'' in Greek and ''ager'' in [[Latin]].

It came into [[Middle English]] as a piece or plot of arable land, before being delineated as an area that could be ploughed (plowed) by a yoke (pair) of oxen in a day. Later statutes decided it should be 220 yards long by 22 yards broad.

It came into [[Middle English]] as a piece or plot of arable land, before being delineated as an area that could be ploughed (plowed) by a yoke (pair) of oxen in a day. Later statutes decided it should be 220 yards long by 22 yards broad although, centuries later, Shakespeare would not have been referring to particular measurements when he wrote ''between the acres of the rye these happy country folk would lie.'' ("As You Like It") The same would have applied to the [[Wiltshire]] folksong that surfaced in the mid nineteenth century: ''My father left me an acre of land.''

The surname Ackerman (and its variations) means man who owns a plot of land.

The surname Ackerman (and its variations) means man who owns or works a plot of land.

It is surely no coincidence that a cricket pitch is 22 yards (now 20 metres) long.

It is surely no coincidence that a cricket pitch is 22 yards (now 20 metres) long.