Noah Webster
Area
A'REA, noun [Latin I suspect this to be contracted from Heb. from a root which signifies to reach, stretch, lay or spread.]
1. Any plain surface, as the floor of a room, of a church or other building, or of the ground.
2. The space or site on which a building stands; or of any inclosure.
3. In geometry, the superficial contents of any figure; the surface included within any given lines; as the area of a square or a triangle.
4. Among physicians, baldness; an empty space; a bald space produced by alopeey; also a name of the disease.
5. In mining, a compass of ore allotted to diggers.