What Is Rood?
A rood is an old way to measure how big a piece of land is. It was mainly used in England and some other European countries. One rood is equal to one quarter of an acre, so four roods make one acre. Today it is not often used in daily life, but it still appears in old land papers and history books.
Definition
A rood is a unit of area, which means it tells us how much surface a piece of land covers.
The most common definition is:
- 1 rood equals 1/4 acre
- 1 rood equals 40 square rods
- 1 rood equals 1210 square yards
- 1 rood is about 1012 square meters
- 1 rood is about 0.101 hectare
If you know the size in acres, you can find roods like this:
- Number of roods equals acres multiplied by 4
History / Origin
The rood comes from old English land measuring. It has been used for many centuries, going back to the Middle Ages. Farmers and land owners used it to describe the size of fields and plots.
The word is linked to the word rod, which was a unit of length. When people squared the rod to get an area, they used that to build the idea of the rood. Over time the rood became fixed as a quarter of an acre, which made it easy to share and measure land in villages.
Different parts of Europe once had similar words, but the exact size could change from place to place. With time, governments wanted standard units, so the rood slowly disappeared and was replaced by acres and later by metric units like the hectare.
Symbol & Abbreviation
The rood never had a strong single symbol like m for meter. In old records you may see:
- rood written in full
- ro as a short form
- sometimes just the word in a phrase such as 3 acres 2 roods
Because it was mostly used in written land documents, there was not always a need for a special symbol. Today, if people write about the unit, they usually write the word rood in full to avoid confusion.
Current Use Around the World
Today the rood is almost never used in normal buying and selling of land. Most countries now use:
- acres in some English speaking countries
- hectares and square meters in metric countries
However, you may still find the word rood in:
- old property deeds and maps in the United Kingdom and Ireland
- historic land surveys
- history and legal books that talk about land from past centuries
Modern surveyors can still work with roods if needed, but they will usually convert the numbers into acres, hectares or square meters for clear records.
Example Conversions
Here are some easy examples to see how big a rood is.
| Roods | Acres | Square meters (approx) | Square feet (approx) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 rood | 0.25 acre | about 1,012 m² | about 10,890 ft² |
| 2 roods | 0.5 acre | about 2,024 m² | about 21,780 ft² |
| 4 roods | 1 acre | about 4,047 m² | about 43,560 ft² |
More examples using other starting units.
- 1 hectare is about 9.88 roods
- 0.5 hectare is about 4.94 roods
- 2 acres equals 8 roods
- 0.75 acre equals 3 roods
Simple rules you can remember:
- To change acres to roods, multiply acres by 4
- To change roods to acres, divide roods by 4
Related Units
The rood is closely linked to several other land area units.
- Acre The most common old English land unit. 1 acre equals 4 roods.
- Rod or perch or pole These are old length units. A square rod, square perch or square pole is a unit of area. 40 square rods equal 1 rood.
- Square yard A smaller area unit. 1 rood equals 1210 square yards.
- Square foot An even smaller unit often used for floor space. 1 rood is about 10,890 square feet.
- Square meter Main area unit in the metric system. 1 rood is about 1,012 square meters.
- Hectare A large metric land unit used in farming and mapping. 1 hectare equals about 9.88 roods.
FAQs
Is the rood still used today?
It is rarely used today. You are most likely to see it in old land deeds, surveys and history books. Modern land sales usually use acres or hectares instead.
How many roods are in one acre?
There are exactly 4 roods in 1 acre. This makes it easy to split land into quarters. For example, half an acre is 2 roods, and three quarters of an acre is 3 roods.
How many square meters are in one rood?
One rood is about 1,012 square meters. The exact value often given by surveyors is 1,011.714 square meters, but 1,012 is close enough for simple use.
What is the difference between a rood and a rod?
This is a common point of confusion. A rod is a unit of length, like a long measuring stick. A rood is a unit of area, which means length times width. Forty square rods make one rood.
Why did people stop using the rood?
As countries moved to standard systems, they chose simpler and more regular units. English speaking countries stayed with the acre, while many others moved to the hectare and square meter. Because the rood was less common and mainly used in special cases, it slowly disappeared from modern law and trade.
How do I convert roods to hectares?
1 rood is about 0.101 hectare. To convert roods to hectares, multiply the number of roods by 0.101. For example, 5 roods is about 0.505 hectare.
How do you say rood?
Rood is usually pronounced like the word rude. It has one syllable.
