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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Life Is So Good
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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:
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
Periodically, the soft-spoken and generous man flies his Cessna into town to scavenge soda pop for a dozen or so cherubic Mennonite children on a nearby homestead.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
If, for example, the home was a Florida homestead property titled solely in your name, and you were survived by your husband and children, Florida law generally provides that your spouse receives a life estate.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
The Carney homestead, located in the townland of Ayle, was a standard rural dwelling of the time: a thatched cottage with two windows in the front.
From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2026
Now Farmer plans to hike to their homestead, in a tiny town called Casse, to check on the family.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
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
As a high school student in San José, Chavez-Garcia knew none of this history — “we learned more about the Homestead Act in the Midwest,” she joked.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 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
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 ● Oct. 9, 2024
Thomas, a little shocked at the last statement, left the Homestead and walked to an old bench near the Box and took a seat, his mind a whirlwind.
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
Thousands of feet below, a smattering of old homesteads spread out like playing cards on a poker table.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2025
Organizations like the Cultural Burn Association have been working with landowners to set portions of farms and homesteads alight.
From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2024
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
As he neared the Hickock farm, he stopped at several neighboring homesteads, ostensibly to ask directions, actually to make inquiries concerning the suspect.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
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.
