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Etymology and origin of the French word are

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing, Coinage
First attested
1793 Committee of Public Instruction, table of the new weights and measures More words from the 18th century
Borrowed from
Latin area
Ultimate origin
Latin ārea
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin ārea
Aromanian aryi
Catalan era
French aire
Italian aia
Romanian arie
Spanish era
English area
French are
Italian area
Derivations
From the same root
Latin āreola ← ārea

Forms

are m (plural ares)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin ārea (“open space, surface”), a learned coinage made for the metric system.[2][3][4] It first appears in 1793, in the table of the new weights and measures drawn up for the Convention's Committee of Public Instruction;[3][2][5] Bloch–Wartburg and the GLLF date it from the decree of 18 Germinal Year III (1795).[4][6] It was made masculine, like the other names of metric units.[4] The same Latin word had earlier given aire, of which it is a doublet.[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The table of 1793 lists the are as the unit of land measure, with the déciare as its tenth.[3]

Semantic evolution

It is an administrative measure of farmland worth 100 square metres.[2][3] Of the compounds formed with it, centiare and déciare (1793) and hectare (1794), only hectare passed into everyday use, through land sales and geography.[2] The derivative aréage (1803) names the measuring of land in ares.[2]

Timeline

  • 1793 – The are appears in the table of the new metric units.[3][2]
  • 1794 – Hectare is formed.[2]
  • 1795 – The decree of 18 Germinal Year III makes it law.[4][6]
  • 1803 – The derivative aréage is recorded.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A unit of land area equal to 100 square metres (symbol a): un jardin de trois ares.[7][8][3]
  2. By extension, any surface of 100 square metres.[3]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  7. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Are.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/are. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·