homestead

1 of 2

noun

home·​stead ˈhōm-ˌsted How to pronounce homestead (audio)
-stid
1
a
: the home and adjoining land occupied by a family
b
: an ancestral home
c
: house
2
: a tract of land acquired from U.S. public lands by filing a record and living on and cultivating the tract

homestead

2 of 2

verb

home·​stead ˈhōm-ˌsted How to pronounce homestead (audio)
homesteaded; homesteading; homesteads

transitive verb

: to acquire or occupy (land) as a homestead
Piet drove over the nearly impassable mountains from Capetown to homestead his two farms …Julian Moynihan
… he wants his children and grandchildren to be able to work the rich soil homesteaded by their ancestors in the 1800s.James Anderson

intransitive verb

1
: to acquire or settle on land under a homestead law (see homestead law sense 2)
Parker's maternal relatives were homesteading way out on the Texas frontier in 1836, south of modern Dallas, lured there by generous land grants offered by the Mexican government.David Holahan
2
: to live frugally or self-sufficiently (as on a homestead) especially by growing and preserving food
They homestead on about 4 acres with a 5,000 square foot garden, greenhouse and an enclosed porch that they use as an additional greenhouse.The Paper of Montgomery County (Crawfordsville, Indiana)
The food insecurity of my childhood undoubtedly informed my decision to homestead as an adult. … We have chickens and ducks, and my husband grows an organic garden that supplies well over half of our family's food for the year.Crystal Sands

Examples of homestead in a Sentence

Noun They decided to farm the old homestead. Verb They homesteaded the territory in the 1860s.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The managers expressed their gratitude to the firefighters who helped save the ranch homestead along with other outlying homes and buildings. Harriet Ramos, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 Feb. 2024 Today’s Capricorn new moon asks you to consider the health and happiness of your homestead. USA TODAY, 11 Jan. 2024 Quietly nestled in Twentynine Palms, this minimalist desert homestead is the ultimate slow-living retreat. Victoria Malloy, Condé Nast Traveler, 20 Dec. 2023 Griffith, who was born in 1919, first learned to use the sourdough starter at age 10 while setting up a homestead in southeastern Oregon. Tiney Ricciardi, The Denver Post, 1 Feb. 2024 Born in a homestead just north of the D.C. border in 1930 and 1933, the brothers were raised in historic St. Phillips Baptist Church, where their father was an associate minister and their mother a deaconess. Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, 8 Feb. 2024 Meanwhile, Bettencourt sponsored the Texas Senate’s $5.3 billion expansion of the state’s homestead exemption (the amount of a home’s value that can’t be taxed to pay for public schools) from $40,000 to $100,000 last summer. Sydney Lake, Fortune, 5 Feb. 2024 Social security and most pensions are exempt from state income tax, and residents over the age of 60 receive a homestead exemption, further reducing their property tax bill. Patricia Doherty, Travel + Leisure, 18 Jan. 2024 The amendment, which passed with 80% support, also doubles the homestead exemption and caps property tax increases on certain business properties. Tribune News Service, Hartford Courant, 10 Jan. 2024
Verb
History: Drue Bailey, an ex-Confederate soldier tired of wandering the West, homesteaded here in 1869. San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 Oct. 2023 The premise is this: an elderly homesteading couple in Alaska spent decades building a remote, three-story dream home complete with guest house, greenhouse, and lush gardens with spectacular views. The Editors, Outside Online, 7 Apr. 2023 His mother, Wanda (Janicki) Kelley, was a homemaker; her parents, Polish immigrants, had homesteaded the land Ray grew up on. Penelope Green, BostonGlobe.com, 31 July 2023 The Senate plan gives homeowners who homestead their property, 5.7 million of them, every one of them between $1,200 and $1,400. Robert T. Garrett, Dallas News, 6 June 2023 While most homestead women at the time were intimately involved in the work of clearing, building and homemaking in every sense of the word, Marie’s role was limited to conventional duties of cooking and cleaning — and soon, childbearing. Nancy Lord, Anchorage Daily News, 4 Feb. 2023 To lighten the load, politicians have awarded us homestead exemptions that serve as discounts. Dallas News, 12 May 2022 Tour the first floor of Stonewalls, the 1720 Hayes homestead where the family resided. courant.com, 17 Sep. 2021 What to know: Park Ranger Nate Sahmie will lead the hike through the Sedona park and share his expertise on its geology, wildlife, homestead history and plant life. Michael Salerno, The Arizona Republic, 21 Dec. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'homestead.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1867, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of homestead was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near homestead

homestay

homestead

Homestead

Cite this Entry

“Homestead.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/homestead. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

homestead

1 of 2 noun
home·​stead -ˌsted How to pronounce homestead (audio)
1
: a home and surrounding land
2
: a piece of land acquired from U.S. public lands by living on and cultivating it

homestead

2 of 2 verb
: to acquire or settle on public land for use as a homestead
homesteader
-ˌsted-ər
noun

Legal Definition

homestead

noun
home·​stead ˈhōm-ˌsted, -stid How to pronounce homestead (audio)
1
a
: the home and adjoining land with any buildings that is occupied usually by a family as its principal residence
b
: an estate created by law in a homestead especially for the purpose of taking advantage of a homestead exemption
2
: a tract of land acquired from U.S. public lands by filing a record and living on and cultivating the tract

Geographical Definition

Homestead

geographical name

Home·​stead ˈhōm-ˌsted How to pronounce Homestead (audio)
city in southeastern Florida southwest of Miami population 60,512
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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