Acre. This word originally meant any field of whatever size, being derived from the Anglo-Saxon æger, cognate to the Latin ager, both meaning land or anything sown. In such popular phrases as "God's acre" (q.v.), "broad acres," etc., it has retained its indeterminate scope. As a measure of land it was first defined under Edward I as the amount a yoke of oxen could plough in a day. By an act of George IV the varying measures of the acre then current in the kingdom were reduced to one uniform standard. The Weights and Measures Act of 1878 now defines it as containing 4840 square yards. Even yet the Scottish and Irish acres (respectively 6150 and 7840 square yards) differ form the English, but the latter is current in the United States.