homestead

  

home·stead

[hohm-sted, -stid]
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)
5.
to acquire or settle on (land) as a homestead: Pioneers homesteaded the valley.
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verb (used without object)
6.
to acquire or settle on a homestead: They homesteaded many years ago.
Origin:
before 1000; Old English hāmstede (not found in ME). See home, stead

Dictionary.com Unabridged

Home·stead

[hohm-sted, -stid]
noun
a town in S Florida.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
homestead (ˈhəʊmˌstɛd, -stɪd) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
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.  (Austral), (NZ) 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 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

homestead
O.E. hamstede "home, town, village," from home + stead (q.v.). In U.S. usage, "a lot of land adequate for the maintenance of a family" (1693), defined by the Homestead Act of 1862 as 160 acres. Hence, the verb, first recorded 1872. Homesteader also is from 1872.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

homestead

city, Miami-Dade county, southern Florida, U.S., in the fertile Redland district, about 30 miles (50 km) southwest of Miami. The region was inhabited by Tequesta and then Calusa Indians before their disappearance by the early 19th century. Established in 1904 after the arrival of the railroad from Miami, the city took its name from its location in the "homestead country," government land that was opened to homesteading in the late 1890s. It developed as a shipping centre for fruits and vegetables grown on the surrounding farmland. The city became an important agricultural-trading centre, the service centre for nearby Homestead Air Force Base, the headquarters for Everglades National Park (west and south of the city), and the gateway to the Florida Keys. Homestead was struck by three devastating hurricanes in the 20th century (1926, 1945, and 1992), but in each case the city was rebuilt; its economic prospects were hampered after the 1992 storm, however, by the restructuring of the air force base

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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