English Units - Area

Area

Acre
area of land one chain (four rods) in width by one furlong in length. As the traditional furlong could vary in length from country to country, so did the acre. In England an acre was 4,840 square yards, in Scotland 6,150 square yards and in Ireland 7,840 square yards. It is a Saxon unit, meaning field. Traditionally said to be "as much area as could be ploughed in one day".
Rood
one quarter of an acre, confusingly sometimes called an acre itself in many ancient contexts. One furlong in length by one rod in width, or 40 square rods.
Carucate
an area equal to that which can be ploughed by one eight-oxen team in a single year (also called a plough or carve). Approximately 120 acres.
Bovate
the amount of land one ox can plough in a single year (also called an oxgate). Approximately 15 acres or one eighth of a carucate.
Perch
an area equal to one square rod. (See also perch as a length and volume unit.)
Virgate
the amount of land a pair of oxen can plough in a single year. Approximately 30 acres (also called yard land).

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Famous quotes containing the word area:

    Prestige is the shadow of money and power. Where these are, there it is. Like the national market for soap or automobiles and the enlarged arena of federal power, the national cash-in area for prestige has grown, slowly being consolidated into a truly national system.
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    Prosperous farmers mean more employment, more prosperity for the workers and the business men of ... every industrial area in the whole country.
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    During the Civil War the area became a refuge for service- dodging Texans, and gangs of bushwhackers, as they were called, hid in its fastnesses. Conscript details of the Confederate Army hunted the fugitives and occasional skirmishes resulted.
    —Administration in the State of Texa, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)