What does decare mean?
A decare is a metric unit of area equal to ten ares, or precisely 1,000 square metres — roughly a quarter of an acre, or a square measuring about 31.6 metres along each side. The term follows the standard decimal pattern of metric land measurement: just as a decilitre is one-tenth of a litre, a decare is one-tenth of a hectare. Despite this tidy logic, the decare sees far less use than its larger cousin, appearing mostly in agricultural statistics, land registers, and official documents from countries that measure farmland in fine-grained metric units. In Greece and parts of southeastern Europe, for instance, property and crop yields are sometimes quoted per decare. For English readers, the word is chiefly useful when translating foreign land records or agricultural data, since Anglophone usage almost always favours hectares or acres. Its obscurity makes it easy to mistake for 'decade', but the two words share only their Greek prefix.
nounA metric unit of land area equal to ten ares, or 1,000 square metres (approximately one-quarter of an acre). It is used chiefly in countries that have adopted the metric system.
- A metric unit of area equal to ten ares or 1,000 square metres.
"The vineyard covers roughly forty decares of south-facing hillside."
"The farm's olive grove spans nearly sixty decares of terraced hillside."
"Land in the region is often priced per decare rather than per hectare."
The standard plural simply adds -s. After numbers of one, the singular is used; larger quantities take the regular plural.
"The estate comprises around three hundred decares of vineyard."
One decare is exactly the size of a square about 31.6 metres on each side — and despite its tidy metric logic, most people have never heard of it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of decare
The word decare was formed in the nineteenth century within the French metric system, combining the Greek-derived prefix deca- ('ten') with the are, the metric unit of area introduced alongside the metre in 1795. It belongs to the same family of decimal formations as decalitre and decigram, all built on Greek deka ('ten'). Cognates appear across European languages that adopted the metric system, such as French décare and German Dekar.
How decare is actually used
The word is technical and relatively rare in everyday English; it appears mainly in agricultural, cadastral, and official contexts in metric-using countries. In most English-speaking contexts, larger areas are given in hectares instead, since one hectare equals ten decares.
Easily confused with decare
A 'decare' is a unit of land area equal to 1,000 square metres, while a 'decade' is a period of ten years.