arpent

noun

1. A pre-metric French unit of length, having various official measures (from 58 to 72 metres).
2. A pre-metric French unit of area, having various official measures (from 3419 to 5107 square metres).

   “In Louisiana and Missouri there were two chief forms of grants—urban and rural. These urban grants consisted of inlots, outlots, and common lands, very much like the Pennsylvania plan, but on a broader basis. The earliest settlers, for social reasons and protection, seemed to favor settling together. The rural grants varied from several hundred to thousands of acres, the league square, consisting of 7,056 arpents, not being unusual.”