HOMESTEAD

homestead

(noun) dwelling that is usually a farmhouse and adjoining land

homestead

(noun) land acquired from the United States public lands by filing a record and living on and cultivating it under the homestead law

homestead

(noun) the home and adjacent grounds occupied by a family

homestead

(verb) settle land given by the government and occupy it as a homestead

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

homestead (plural homesteads)

A house together with surrounding land and buildings, especially on a farm; the property comprising these.

The place that is one's home.

(South Africa) A cluster of several houses occupied by an extended family.

(obsolete) The home or seat of a family; place of origin.

Verb

homestead (third-person singular simple present homesteads, present participle homesteading, simple past and past participle homesteaded)

(transitive, intransitive) To acquire or settle on land as a homestead.

Anagrams

• deathsome

Source: Wiktionary

Home"stead, n. Etym: [AS. hamstede.]

1. The home place; a home and the inclosure or ground immediately connected with it. Dryden.

2. The home or seat of a family; place of origin. We can trace them back to a homestead on the Rivers Volga and Ural. W. Tooke.

3. (Law)

Definition: The home and appurtenant land and buildings owned by the head of a family, and occupied by him and his family. Homestead law. (a) A law conferring special privileges or exemptions upon owners of homesteads; esp., a law exempting a homestead from attachment or sale under execution for general debts. Such laws, with limitations as to the extent or value of the property, exist in most of the States. Called also homestead exemption law. (b) Also, a designation of an Act of Congress authorizing and regulating the sale of public lands, in parcels of 160 acres each, to actual settlers. [U.S.]

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition