The word hectare combines the Greek hekaton, meaning"hundred" with are,

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The word hectare was coined in French in 1795 and combines the Greek prefix hepto- (from the ancient Greek hekaton, meaning "hundred") with are, a metric unit of land area equal to 100 m².

The term are itself comes from the Latin area, which means a "vacant piece of level ground."

Thus, etymologically, a hectare literally means a "hundred ares" (a 100 × 100 meter square, equivalent to 10,000 m²).

The word was officially introduced into the English language in 1817 and is utilized globally within the metric system to measure large tracts of land (e.g., forests, agricultural plots, and vineyards).