Etymograph

English

hectare

Hectare comes from French hectare, from Ancient Greek ἑκατόν ‘hundred’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥ ‘ten’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*déḱm̥1‘ten’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*déḱm̥t2‘ten’uncertain
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱm̥tóm3‘hundred’uncertain
  4. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*hekətón4‘hundred’reconstructed
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἑκατόν5hekatón‘hundred’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presenthectare5
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1997hectare5

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥t
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Proto-Hellenic *hekətón
  4. 4 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἑκατόν
  5. 5 Wiktionary, English hectare
  6. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1997, Buying a Rural Property: “With careful planning almost anyone can turn the dream…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*déḱm̥Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥t‘ten’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*déḱm̥tWiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm‘ten’uncertain
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱm̥tómWiktionary, Proto-Hellenic *hekətón‘hundred’uncertain
  4. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*hekətónWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἑκατόν‘hundred’reconstructed
  5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἑκατόνWiktionary, English hectarehekatón‘hundred’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presenthectareWiktionary, English hectare
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1997hectareWiktionary, English hectare. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1997, Buying a Rural Property: “With careful planning almost anyone can turn the dream…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥ ‘ten’

ten, dick, dean, dozen, decade, den, diner, decimal, tenfold, denier, centigrade, dwt, deca, doyen, deni, centenarian, 47 more

through Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥t ‘ten’

centurion, 8 more

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm ‘hundred’

century, cent, hundred, sen, 14 more

Today it means

noun 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.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “hectare”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥t, Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥tóm, Proto-Hellenic *hekətón, Ancient Greek ἑκατόν. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥ / hectare

Shirt and support for this word