hectare

What it means

1. A unit of surface area (symbol ㏊) equal to 100 ares (that is, 10,000 square metres, one hundredth of a square kilometre, or approximately 2.5 acres), used for measuring the areas of geographical features such as land and bodies of water.

   With careful planning almost anyone can turn the dream of owning a small farm or a few hectares of country land into a reality.

   1997, “Buying a Rural Property”, in Back to Basics, Surry Hills, NSW: Reader's Digest (Australia) Pty Limited, page 10

   2 more examples

   One hectare (about 2.5 acres) of forest cleared and converted to ranchland or crops produces a piece of land worth, on average, $200 to $500.

   2007 June 16, William Powers, Glenn Hurowitz, “Home on the Rainforest”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 13 Jan 2012

   Last year 1m square metres of plant-covered roofing was built in France, as much as in the US, and 10 times more than in Germany, the pioneer in this field. In Paris 22 hectares of roof have been planted, out of a potential total of 80 hectares.

   2013 May 10, Audrey Garric, “Urban canopies let nature bloom”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 22, archived from the original on 02 Oct 2022, page 30

   Synonyms: square hectometre

In a sentence

With careful planning almost anyone can turn the dream of owning a small farm or a few hectares of country land into a reality.

1997, “Buying a Rural Property”, in Back to Basics, Surry Hills, NSW: Reader's Digest (Australia) Pty Limited, page 10

Where it comes from

1. Ancient Greekἑκατόν“hundred”
2. Frenchhectare
3. Englishhectare

Borrowed from French hectare, formed from Ancient Greek ἑκατόν (hekatón, “hundred”) + are, equivalent to hect- + are.