What does centiare mean?
The centiare is a small metric unit of area equal to exactly one square metre, making it one hundredth of an are and one ten-thousandth of a hectare. Its name combines the Latin-derived prefix centi-, meaning hundredth, with the are, the base metric unit of surface introduced in France in the 1790s. The term is rarely heard outside specialist circles: it appears chiefly in land surveying, cadastral records, property law, and translations of European documents where land parcels are measured with fine precision. Because most English speakers simply say 'square metre,' encountering 'centiare' usually signals a technical or translated source. Though obscure, it is a perfectly standard unit within the International System's extended family, useful wherever very small areas of ground must be stated exactly rather than rounded.
nounA metric unit of area equal to one square metre (one hundredth of an are). It is used chiefly in technical, surveying, and cadastral contexts.
- A metric unit of area equal to one square metre, i.e. one hundredth of an are.
"The plot was measured to the nearest centiare before the boundary dispute went to court."
"Each apartment owner held title to a few centiares of common garden space."
"The surveyor recorded the residual strip as roughly forty centiares."
Regular plural; typically used after numerals when stating measured areas.
"The parcel totalled 2,450 centiares according to the revised survey."
A centiare sounds grand, but it's just one square metre — the size of a bath mat.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of centiare
Centiare derives from French, formed from centi- ('hundredth'), ultimately from Latin centum ('hundred'), combined with are, the metric base unit of area adopted in France during the 1790s alongside the metre. It entered English in the nineteenth century as part of the vocabulary of metric measurement. Its cognates include other centi- words such as centimetre and centilitre, all sharing the same Latin root for 'hundred.'
How centiare is actually used
A rare, highly technical term encountered mainly in land surveying, property deeds, and translations from European languages that use the 'are' family of units. In everyday English, speakers simply say 'square metre.' The word is almost always used in plural when describing measurable areas, though singular use with numerals occurs in legal text.
Easily confused with centiare
A century is a period of one hundred years, whereas a centiare is a unit of land area equal to one square metre.