Morgen
/ˈmɔːrɡən/noun
A traditional unit of land, especially in southern Africa, representing roughly the amount that could be plowed in one morning.
Did you know?The unit links time to labor: its size was defined by a morning’s agricultural work rather than by a fixed universal measurement.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic
*murganaz
“Morning; the early part of the day”
Old English
Old English
morgen
“Morning, dawn; a form preserved especially in dialect and compounds”
Middle Dutch
Middle Dutch
morgen
“Morning; also the amount of land that could be plowed in a morning”
Early Modern Dutch
Dutch
morgen
“A land measure based on a morning’s plowing”
18th–19th Century
Afrikaans
morgen
“A colonial land-measure unit, commonly standardized at about 0.8565 hectare”
Modern English
English
morgen
“A traditional unit of land, particularly associated with southern Africa”