homestead
noun
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.
homestead
1 American
[hohm-sted, -stid]
/ ˈhoʊm stɛd, -stɪd /
noun
-
homesteads
plural
-
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.
-
any dwelling with its land and buildings where a family makes its home.
-
a tract of land acquired under the Homestead Act.
-
a house in an urban area acquired under a homesteading program.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
Homestead
2
American
[hohm-sted, -stid]
/ ˈhoʊm stɛd, -stɪd /
noun
homestead
British
/ ˈhəʊmˌstɛd, -stɪd /
noun
-
a house or estate and the adjoining land, buildings, etc, esp a farm
-
(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
-
(in western Canada) a piece of land, usually 160 acres, granted to a settler by the federal government
-
the owner's or manager's residence on a sheep or cattle station; in New Zealand the term includes all outbuildings
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of homestead
First recorded before 1000; Old English hāmstede; equivalent to home + stead
Explanation
A homestead is a house and surrounding land owned by a family — often, it includes a farmhouse. Most people have homes, but not everyone has a homestead: that means your family owns more than a house. The homestead often consists of a farmhouse and land devoted to crops or animals. You'll find a lot more homesteads in rural areas than in cities. Often, a homestead is passed down from parents to children for generations.
Vocabulary lists containing homestead
There's No Word Like Home
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Purple Hibiscus
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Since 2022, Millstein has received a homestead exemption reserved for primary homes, which reduces the taxes he pays on his Florida mansion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
The exemption only applies to Florida residents who are permanent and who have applied for what’s called the homestead exemption, and would only count toward non-school taxes.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026
The higher homestead exemption would not apply to rental properties, second homes or commercial properties.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
Biddy Mason was previously honored in 1989, when a mini-park off Spring and 3rd streets was built to memorialize her on her original homestead.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
A shamblers' hole is a last resort when a homestead gets overrun.
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
Even as the Homestead Act gave abundant land to former slaves in Nicodemus, Kan., the city was bypassed by the railroad, limiting the largely black settlement’s economic growth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
The uprooting of prairies across the Great Plains and the Dust Bowl could not have occurred without the massive settler movement triggered by the Homestead Act of 1862.
From Salon ● Jun. 21, 2025
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 ● Oct. 9, 2024
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 ● Jul. 25, 2024
A door closed behind them; Thomas turned to see Alby and Newt heading over from the Homestead.
From "The Maze Runner" by James Dashner
Neighbors judge one another for selling off family homesteads to developers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026
Fittingly, they have been called, in more recent years, seasteads, after the homesteads of the American West.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 28, 2025
Years ago, I made a white-knuckled jet-boat trip deep into the Idaho backcountry, where a trail of blossoming lilacs marked former homesteads along the Salmon River.
From Seattle Times ● May 4, 2024
And because of their ability to do that, it enabled humans to sort of stay in one place, not be so nomadic, to build farms and homesteads.
From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2024
The subdivisions proud residents seeded their lawns and planted trees for shade, hosting patio parties and many a club meeting at their homesteads.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
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