God's Acre is a churchyard, specifically the burial ground. The word comes from the German Gottesacker (Field of God), an ancient designation for a burial ground. The use of "Acre" is related to, but not derived from the unit of measurement and can be of any size. In the early 17th century the term was used as a translation of the German, but by the end of the century it was accepted as an English term. American Congregationalist poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote an 1842 poem called "God's Acre" that referenced this term.