Ar'ec (Lat. arca), the unit of the French land-measure, is a square, the side of which is 10 metres (or 32.809 feet) long (see METRE), and which therefore contains 100 square metres = 119.6 English square yards. The next denomination in the ascending scale is the decare, containing 10 ares; but the denomination commonly used in describing a quantity of land is the hectare of 100 ares, = 2.47 English statute or imperial acres.
Ar'ec
Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Volume 1: A to Beaufort, p. 398
Source scan(s): p. 0417