To save this word, you'll need to log in.
home·stead | \ ˈhōm-ˌsted 
, -stid \
, -stid \Definition of homestead
(Entry 1 of 3)
2 : a tract of land acquired from U.S. public lands by filing a record and living on and cultivating the tract
homestead
verbhome·stead | \ ˈhōm-ˌsted \
\homesteaded; homesteading; homesteads
Definition of homestead (Entry 2 of 3)
: to acquire or occupy as a homestead
: to acquire or settle on land under a homestead law
Homestead
geographical nameHome·stead | \ ˈhōm-ˌsted \
\Definition of Homestead (Entry 3 of 3)
city in southeastern Florida southwest of Miami population 60,512
Keep scrolling for more
Other Words from homestead
Verb
homesteader \ ˈhōm-ˌste-dər \ noun
\ nounExamples 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 According to the page, a community prayer meeting for Linda will be held at 7:45 p.m. Tuesday, behind the Smucker homestead in Bird-In-Hand, Pennsylvania.
—
Andrea Cavallier, NBC News, "Authorities, volunteers search for missing Amish woman who failed to return home after attending church service on Sunday in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania," 23 June 2020 Residents eligible for a homestead exemption will now receive a 10 percent exemption rather than the eight percent given in previous years.
—
Allie Morris, Dallas News, "How Garland residents can get rental assistance, tax breaks amid COVID-19 pandemic," 22 June 2020 In some states, homeowners can choose to use the federal homestead exemption instead of the state exemption.
—
David Z. Morris, Fortune, "Small-business owners considering bankruptcy may be shocked to learn they could lose their homes," 10 June 2020 Our Homes benefits to a new homestead property from two year to three years.
—
John Haughey, Washington Examiner, "Florida Supreme Court rules against assault weapons ban amendment," 5 June 2020 In the pages that follow, Wade details the difficult and physically demanding work that building a homestead requires.
—
David James, Anchorage Daily News, "In the memoir ‘Cabin,’ a clear-eyed look at the Alaska wilderness dream," 23 May 2020 These include burning settlements as a disinfectant before either reoccupying them or shifting homesteads to new locations.
—
Shadreck Chirikure, Quartz Africa, "How ancient African societies used social distancing to manage pandemics," 18 May 2020 Ken told us they had moved here four years ago, founding a 10-acre homestead where three generations of Greenwoods now live and work.
—
Jayme Moye, Condé Nast Traveler, "A Vancouver Island Road Trip of Crisp Wines and Gigantic Trees," 14 May 2020 As for the low end of the homestead power rankings ... welp, sorry to single out Redskins VP of player personnel Kyle Smith.
—
Nate Davis, USA TODAY, "32 things we learned from the 2020 NFL draft," 28 Apr. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb For properties that aren’t homesteaded — owner-occupied — the foreclosure process dramatically accelerates, from a three-year time frame to just one.
—
Tad Vezner, Twin Cities, "St. Paul man’s catch-22 case reveals impact of ‘accelerated foreclosure’ in Frogtown and other low-income neighborhoods," 2 Nov. 2019 Originally homesteaded as an apple orchard, the Slide Rock area of Oak Creek Canyon is one of Arizona's most popular tourist destinations.
—
Kimi Robinson, azcentral, "New Year's hikes around Arizona: Here are 5 fun ways to welcome 2020," 30 Dec. 2019 Her paternal grandparents homesteaded in Chickaloon in the ’40s and ’50s.
—
Anchorage Daily News, "For this Alaska clan, pipeline safety is the family business," 18 Oct. 2019 But disabled people who are homesteaded receive an additional tax discount.
—
Tad Vezner, Twin Cities, "St. Paul man’s catch-22 case reveals impact of ‘accelerated foreclosure’ in Frogtown and other low-income neighborhoods," 2 Nov. 2019 Caring for the plants, much like homesteading, comes easy for Markey, who grew up on a farm.
—
Author: Cheryl Upshaw, Anchorage Daily News, "‘Easy Money,’ hard work for Fairbanks volunteer," 30 Sep. 2019 My great-great-grandfather homesteaded the place in 1907.
—
Judith Kohler, The Denver Post, "Agriculture symposium takes look at what’s on the horizon for Colorado farmers, ranchers," 16 Oct. 2019 Then again, Blane Barksdale probably blended easily with the homesteading folk he was believed to be hiding among, Adams said.
—
Chelsea Curtis, azcentral, "Fugitive couple Blane, Susan Barksdale nabbed in Arizona manhunt," 11 Sep. 2019 The legend originated with a Mrs. Johnson who homesteaded nearby and was very concerned about her daughters’ reputations.
—
Tom Noel, The Know, "16 strange, spooky and (mostly) true Colorado stories to tell around a campfire," 24 Aug. 2019
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'homestead.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
More Definitions for homestead
homestead
nounEnglish Language Learners Definition of homestead
: a house and the farmland it is on
US : a piece of government land that a person could acquire by living on it and farming it when the western part of the U.S. was being settled
See the full definition for homestead in the English Language Learners Dictionary
homestead
nounhome·stead | \ ˈhōm-ˌsted \
\Kids Definition of homestead
(Entry 1 of 2)
1 : a home and the land around it
2 : a piece of land gained from United States public lands by living on and farming it
homestead
verbhomesteaded; homesteading
Kids Definition of homestead (Entry 2 of 2)
: to acquire or settle on public land for use as a homestead
homestead
nounhome·stead | \ ˈhōm-ˌsted, -stid \
\Legal Definition of homestead
1a : 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
Keep scrolling for more
Comments on homestead
What made you want to look up homestead? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
A More Exception(al) Quiz
- Which of the following words is not a synonym for ‘a young person’?
Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridgedWords at Play
Ask the Editors
Share homestead
Time Traveler for homestead
The first known use of homestead was before the 12th century
See more words from the same century