homestead

¹

[ hohm-sted, -stid ]

noun

1. a dwelling with its land and buildings, occupied by the owner as a home and exempted by a homestead law from seizure or sale for debt.
2. any dwelling with its land and buildings where a family makes its home.
3. a tract of land acquired under the Homestead Act.
4. a house in an urban area acquired under a homesteading program.

verb (used with object)

1. to acquire or settle on (land) as a homestead:

   Pioneers homesteaded the valley.

verb (used without object)

1. to acquire or settle on a homestead:

   They homesteaded many years ago.

Homestead

²

[ hohm-sted, -stid ]

noun

1. a town in S Florida.

homestead

/ -stɪd; ˈhəʊmˌstɛd /

noun

1. a house or estate and the adjoining land, buildings, etc, esp a farm
2. (in the US) a house and adjoining land designated by the owner as his fixed residence and exempt under the homestead laws from seizure and forced sale for debts
3. (in western Canada) a piece of land, usually 160 acres, granted to a settler by the federal government
4. the owner's or manager's residence on a sheep or cattle station; in New Zealand the term includes all outbuildings

Word History and Origins

Origin of homestead¹

First recorded before 1000; Old English hāmstede; equivalent to home + stead

Example Sentences

Sylvester Fernandez, 73, planned to wait out the hurricane at his home in Homestead near Miami, but early Wednesday was woken by the sound of a warning on his phone.

From BBC

While Homestead will not face the brunt of the storm, he said it was "too risky" to stay, although most of his neighbours "don't want to leave".

From BBC

Jules Dervaes Jr. wanted a simpler life when he turned the yard around his city home into the organic Urban Homestead his children still farm 50 years later.

From Los Angeles Times

For over 40 years, Nancy Berry’s trailer was her mountain oasis and her family’s homestead.

From BBC

Tradwives often argue that the only escape from a world supposedly drowning in toxic chemicals is to retreat to a homestead where a woman devotes her entire life to the unpaid labor of making food from scratch.

From Salon

Related Words

• apartment
• cabin
• condo
• condominium
• cottage
• dormitory
• dwelling
• farm
• hospital
• house
• hut
• mansion
• palace
• place
• residence
• resort
• shelter
• trailer