God's acre
- noun
- Archaic
:
cementerio
- Visitors wandered quietly among the tombstones in the historic God's acre.
Examples
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Many poets have written about the peace and solemnity of the God's acre beside the old church.
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Many families visit God's acre to pay their respects.
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Her ancestors were buried in the God's acre at the edge of the village.
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The church is surrounded by God's acre.
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Many poets have written about the peace and solemnity of the God's acre beside the old church.
-
Visitors wandered quietly among the tombstones in the historic God's acre.
-
Her ancestors were buried in the God's acre at the edge of the village.
Synonyms
421
2.8
A place where people are buried, often with headstones
12
3.5
An area of land next to a church for burying people
1
9.9
A yard next to a church with graves, often in Scotland or Northern England
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
God's + acre
The components 'God's' (possession by a deity) and 'acre' (a plot of land) suggest land belonging to or consecrated by God, so learners might infer a religiously associated place. However, the conventionalized meaning 'churchyard or burial ground' is a culturally specific extension and not fully predictable from the literal parts, making the expression partially but not wholly transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
God's acre may come from the old idea that the land beside a church was like a field, an acre, belonging to God, where people were buried. That's why God's acre now means 'a churchyard' or 'burial ground'.