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homestead

1 American  
[hohm-sted, -stid] / ˈhoʊm stɛd, -stɪd /

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 American  
[hohm-sted, -stid] / ˈhoʊm stɛd, -stɪd /

noun

  1. a town in S Florida.

homestead British  
/ -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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of homestead

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

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.

By chance, lawyers in the Department of Justice learned that a part of my recently completed doctoral dissertation in Indian history included a discussion of such “homestead laws.”

From Salon

“More importantly, the state has complex laws about community property, homestead exemptions, and tax implications that can dramatically affect how your assets pass to your heirs.”

From MarketWatch

Odinga was buried nearby at his late father's homestead, where there is a family mausoleum.

From BBC

In the 1970s, when Bunker moved to Maine, he canvassed old-timers for the names of the apples growing near his Palermo homestead.

From The Wall Street Journal

Instead, she lives in a trailer on the homestead, where she feels persecuted by the blazing sun that her tree canopy used to shield her from.

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.