(1) An old French unit of area. The size of the arpent depends on its origin and on local custom. The value 0. 8507 acres has been used for surveys in Arkansas and Missouri. For surveys in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and northwestern Florida, when no alternative definition for the arpent has been known, the value 0. 84725 acres has been used. The arpent was used, in the U. S. A, in surveys of land granted by the French crown. (2) An old French unit of distance, taken as the length of a side of a square region one arpent in area. Its values in other units, corresponding to the values given in (1) for area, are: