heredium

From heres (“heir”) + -ium (suffix forming neuter nouns). Its use as a unit of area derives from an early land reform which bequeathed 2 jugers of land to each Roman citizen as heritable property.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /heːˈreː.di.um/, [heːˈreːd̪iʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /eˈre.di.um/, [eˈrɛːd̪ium]

hērēdium n (genitive hērēdiī or hērēdī); second declension

1. a hereditary estate
2. (historical units of measure) A former Roman unit of area (approximately 1¼ acres or ½ hectare).

Second-declension noun (neuter).

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

• decempeda (¹⁄₅₇₆ heredium); clima (¹⁄₁₆ heredium); actus (¹⁄₄ heredium); iugerum (¹⁄₂ heredium); centuria (100 heredia); saltus (400 heredia)