STEAD

stead, position, place, lieu

(noun) the post or function properly or customarily occupied or served by another; “can you go in my stead?”; “took his place”; “in lieu of”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology 1

Noun

stead (plural steads)

(obsolete) A place, or spot, in general. [10th-16th c.]

(obsolete) A place where a person normally rests; a seat. [10th-18thc.]

(obsolete) An inhabited place; a settlement, city, town etc. [13th-16thc.]

(obsolete) An estate, a property with its grounds; a farm. [14th-19thc.]

(obsolete) The frame on which a bed is laid; a bedstead. [15th-19thc.]

(in phrases, now literary) The position or function (of someone or something), as taken on by a successor. [from 15thc.]

(figurative) An emotional or circumstantial "place" having specified advantages, qualities etc. (now only in phrases). [from 15thc.]

Verb

stead (third-person singular simple present steads, present participle steading, simple past and past participle steaded)

To help, support, benefit or assist; to be helpful or noteful.

To fill stead or place of.

Etymology 2

Noun

stead (plural steads)

(Singapore, colloquial) One's partner in a romantic relationship.

Anagrams

• AEDST, Stade, TASed, asdet, dates, desat, sadet, sated, stade, tased, tsade

Proper noun

Stead (plural Steads)

A surname.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Stead is the 11257th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 2808 individuals. Stead is most common among White (88.89%) individuals.

Anagrams

• AEDST, Stade, TASed, asdet, dates, desat, sadet, sated, stade, tased, tsade

Source: Wiktionary


Stead, n. Etym: [OE. stede place, AS. stede; akin to LG. & D. stede, OS. stad, stedi, OHG. stat, G. statt, stätte, Icel. staedhr, Dan. sted, Sw. stad, Goth. sta, and E. stand. *163. See Stand, and cf. Staith, Stithy.]

1. Place, or spot, in general. [Obs., except in composition.] Chaucer. Fly, therefore, fly this fearful stead anon. Spenser.

2. Place or room which another had, has, or might have. "Stewards of your steads." Piers Plowman. In stead of bounds, he a pillar set. Chaucer.

3. A frame on which a bed is laid; a bedstead. [R.] The genial bed, Sallow the feet, the borders, and the stead. Dryden.

4. A farmhouse and offices. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.]

Note: The word is now commonly used as the last part of a compound; as, farmstead, homestead, readstead, etc. In stead of, in place of. See Instead.

– To stand in stead, or To do stead, to be of use or great advantage. The smallest act . . . shall stand us in great stead. Atterbury. Here thy sword can do thee little stead. Milton.

Stead, v. t.

1. To help; to support; to benefit; to assist. Perhaps my succour or advisement meet, Mote stead you much your purpose to subdue. Spenser. It nothing steads us To chide him from our eaves. Shak.

2. To fill place of. [Obs.] Shak.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

29 April 2024

SUBDUCTION

(noun) a geological process in which one edge of a crustal plate is forced sideways and downward into the mantle below another plate


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Coffee Trivia

Coffee dates back to the 9th century. Goat herders in Ethiopia noticed their goats seem to be “dancing” after eating berries from a particular shrub. They reported it to the local monastery, and a monk made a drink out of it. The monk found out he felt energized and kept him awake at night. That’s how the first coffee drink was born.

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