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:
Florida homeowners who have applied for the homestead exemption can estimate how much they would save under Amendment 3 on this website created by the state.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
The Alila Ventana Big Sur resort is 51 years old, while the Post Ranch Inn sits on the former homestead of the Post pioneer family who settled in the region in the 1860s.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
Gracie said one of her earliest “Little House” memories is visiting the family homestead in De Smet, S.D., when she was about 5 years old, and the two have attended several cast reunions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
The amendment would expand the so-called homestead exemption—a reduction in the taxable value of a homeowner’s primary residence—which typically results in a lower property-tax payment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
Chase had had to rescue me from my own stupidity on my very first homestead day.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
When industrialist Henry Frick moved to break the union at Carnegie’s Homestead, Pa., plant in July 1892, skilled workers resisted.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 30, 2025
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
He pushed his way through a crowd in the foyer, tore out of the Homestead and toward the West Door, sprinting.
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
Climate change also can drive snakes into homesteads, he said, as they seek water in dry times and shelter in wet.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 20, 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
"They continue to be displaced, we have new arrivals coming into IDP camps and they're telling their stories that they don't feel safe in their homesteads and in their farms."
From BBC ● Feb. 17, 2023
The townlands were rich, with wide tilth and many orchards, and homesteads there were with oast and garner, fold and byre, and many rills rippling through the green from the highlands down to Anduin.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
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