DictionaryAI

are

AHR/ɑɹ/UKAH/ɑː(ɹ)/

Noun pluralares

3 meanings of are

Practice

  1. 1
    with theyverb
    Simple present of be, used with you, we and they, and with plural nouns.

    The new recruits are eager to prove themselves.

    Those mountains are visible from the coast on clear days.

    UsageAlso used in there are before a noun for more than one thing: there are two problems.

    Note

    The King James Bible of 1611 shows an older job for this form: many false prophets are gone out, where modern English would say have gone. Be once formed the perfect of certain intransitive verbs, and that pattern still lingers in they are gone.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

  2. 2
    area unitnounrarecountable
    A metric unit of area equal to 100 square meters, used mainly for measuring land; it is outside the modern SI and rarely used in English. Its symbol is a.

    Roughly the footprint of a small house with a little yard around it.

    In the metric system, one hectare is made up of one hundred ares, so a single are is about the size of a small yard.

    Surveyors a century ago often recorded plots in ares rather than hectares.

    Note

    A different word altogether, borrowed from French and unrelated to the forms of be. As a noun it takes an ordinary plural, ares, and its symbol is a lowercase a. It sits outside the modern SI and standards bodies discourage it, but it is still common for land in places such as Mexico, Indonesia and Russia; English writing usually prefers square meters or hectares.

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • The area-unit noun was borrowed from French and has a separate origin from the verb. en.wiktionary.org
    • The noun has the plural ares. en.wiktionary.org
    • The unit's symbol is lowercase a. bipm.org
    • The are is outside the modern SI. en.wikipedia.org
    • Standards guidance discourages use of the are; NIST explicitly discourages its continued use by NIST authors. nist.gov
  3. 3
    dialect (any subject)verbdialectalEastMidlandsYorkshire
    Present tense of be, used with every person in East Yorkshire and Midlands dialect.

    The old mill are being pulled down next month, they reckon.

    She are stopping at her mam's till Sunday.

    UsageHeard in local speech; standard English keeps I am, she is, it is.

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Origins

Meanings 1, 3

From Middle English aren, from Old English earun/earon ("are"), possibly reinforced by Old Norse plural forms in er-. Its deeper origin is disputed: it may be an irregular Germanic form of the verb "to be" or come from a root meaning "to rise," and it is related to Old English eart ("thou art").

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

  • Are descends through Middle English aren from Old English earun/earon, meaning are. en.wiktionary.org
  • Old Norse plural forms in er- may have reinforced the English form. en.wiktionary.org
  • The deeper etymology is disputed. en.wiktionary.org
  • One proposed explanation derives the form through an irregular alteration of Germanic forms of to be. en.wiktionary.org
  • Another proposed explanation connects it with a root meaning to rise. en.wiktionary.org
  • Old English eart means thou art and is related as another present-tense form of the same Old English verb. en.wiktionary.org
Meaning 2

From French are.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact