Arpent (North American) (arpent)

French (Ancien Régime)Historical unit (no longer in standard use)Approximate value

About 3,419 m² (0.845 acre), a square of 180 French feet. Still used in Louisiana and Quebec land records. The older Paris arpent was larger, about 5,107 m².

1 arpent (North American) = 3,418.89 square meters (approximately).

Approximate value. Standards for the arpent (North American) varied by place and period, so this converter uses the most commonly cited value. Treat results as estimates, not exact figures.

About the arpent (North American)

Arpent probably descends from the Late Latin arepennis, half a jugerum, which may itself trace to a Gaulish word for the end of a field. French surveyors used it for land and forests, and the size changed from province to province. Wikipedia describes the Paris arpent as 220 French feet on a side, about 71.5 m, which gives roughly 5,107 square meters.

The smaller arpent of 180 French feet, about 58.5 m on a side, gives 32,400 square French feet, near 3,419 square meters or 0.845 acre. Wikipedia files this version under North America, where Louisiana grants usually fixed river frontage in arpents with plots 40 or more deep. Some states round it differently, to 0.84628 acre in Louisiana and 0.8507 acre in Arkansas and Missouri.

The figure used here is 3,418.9 square meters. Mauritius and Seychelles use yet another arpent, near 4,221 square meters, and Quebec land records still use the term.

Sources: Wikipedia: Arpent

Arpent (North American) conversion chart

1 arpent (North American) expressed in every other area unit:

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