hectare

Etymology

It is borrowed from French hectare,^[2][3][4][5] formed irregularly from Ancient Greek ἑκατόν (hekatón, “a hundred”) and are (“a square measure”),^[2][6][7][8] which is from Latin ārea (“a vacant piece of ground”).^[2][4][8] Klein calls it a hybrid, coined in 1795 by a decree of the French National Convention.^[8][4] The Greek numeral also gives the prefix hecto-,^[2][6] and Etymonline refers it to hecatomb.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A measure of area of 100 ares, in the metric system: 1810, in the Naval Chronicle.^[2] Barnhart and Merriam-Webster also date it to 1810,^[3][5] Etymonline to 1817,^[4] and Dictionary.com to 1800–10.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The French term was created by decree in 1795 as one of the units of the new metric system,^[4][8] and English took it over with that system in the early 19th century.^[2][7] The OED defines it by its English equivalent, about 2.471 acres;^[2][10] Collins gives its symbol, ha, and its value of 10,000 square metres.^[10] In the late 20th century English formed hectarage, an extent measured in hectares.^[6]

Timeline

• 1795 – French hectare coined by decree of the National Convention.^[4][8]
• 1810 – a metric measure of 100 ares.^[2][3][5] Etymonline dates the word to 1817.^[4]
• late 20th century – hectarage, an extent in hectares.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A unit of area in the metric system, equal to 100 ares or 10,000 square metres, about 2.471 acres; symbol ha: The vineyard covers twelve hectares.^{[10][5][2][6]}

Related words

• hecto-
• hecatomb
• area
• decare

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins