NOUN (3)

1. the home and adjacent grounds occupied by a family;

2. land acquired from the United States public lands by filing a record and living on and cultivating it under the homestead law;

3. dwelling that is usually a farmhouse and adjoining land;


VERB (1)

1. settle land given by the government and occupy it as a homestead;

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Homestead \Home"stead\, n. [AS. h[=a]mstede.]
   1. The home place; a home and the inclosure or ground
      immediately connected with it. --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. The home or seat of a family; place of origin.
      [1913 Webster]

            We can trace them back to a homestead on the Rivers
            Volga and Ural.                       --W. Tooke.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. (Law) The home and appurtenant land and buildings owned by
      the head of a family, and occupied by him and his family.
      [1913 Webster]

   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.]
          [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

homestead
    n 1: the home and adjacent grounds occupied by a family
    2: land acquired from the United States public lands by filing a
       record and living on and cultivating it under the homestead
       law
    3: dwelling that is usually a farmhouse and adjoining land
    v 1: settle land given by the government and occupy it as a
         homestead

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

75 Moby Thesaurus words for "homestead":
   ancestral halls, arable land, barnyard, barton, cattle ranch,
   chicken farm, chimney corner, collective farm, cotton plantation,
   croft, dairy farm, demesne, demesne farm, dry farm, dude ranch,
   estate, factory farm, fallow, family homestead, farm, farmery,
   farmhold, farmland, farmplace, farmstead, farmyard, fireplace,
   fireside, foyer, fruit farm, fur farm, grain farm, grange,
   grassland, hacienda, hearth, hearth and home, hearthstone, home,
   home place, home roof, home sweet home, homecroft, homefarm,
   house and grounds, house and lot, household, ingle, inglenook,
   ingleside, kibbutz, kolkhoz, location, mains, manor farm, menage,
   messuage, orchard, pasture, paternal roof, pen, place, plantation,
   poultry farm, ranch, rancheria, rancho, roof, rooftree, sheep farm,
   station, steading, stock farm, toft, truck farm



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

HOMESTEAD. The place of the house or home place. Homestead farm does not
necessarily include all the parcels of land owned by the grantor, though
lying and occupied together. This depends upon the intention of the parties
when the term is mentioned in a deed, and is to be gathered from the
context. 7 N. H. Rep. 241; 15 John. R. 471. See Manor; Mansion.



U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000):

Homestead, MO -- U.S. village in Missouri
   Population (2000):    181
   Housing Units (2000): 76
   Land area (2000):     0.189633 sq. miles (0.491146 sq. km)
   Water area (2000):    0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km)
   Total area (2000):    0.189633 sq. miles (0.491146 sq. km)
   FIPS code:            32806
   Located within:       Missouri (MO), FIPS 29
   Location:             39.363149 N, 94.198955 W
   ZIP Codes (1990):
   Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
   Headwords:
    Homestead, MO
    Homestead


U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000):

Homestead, FL -- U.S. city in Florida
   Population (2000):    31909
   Housing Units (2000): 11162
   Land area (2000):     14.283740 sq. miles (36.994714 sq. km)
   Water area (2000):    0.093439 sq. miles (0.242005 sq. km)
   Total area (2000):    14.377179 sq. miles (37.236719 sq. km)
   FIPS code:            32275
   Located within:       Florida (FL), FIPS 12
   Location:             25.471190 N, 80.468122 W
   ZIP Codes (1990):     33030 33031 33033 33035
   Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
   Headwords:
    Homestead, FL
    Homestead


U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000):

Homestead, PA -- U.S. borough in Pennsylvania
   Population (2000):    3569
   Housing Units (2000): 2071
   Land area (2000):     0.568171 sq. miles (1.471555 sq. km)
   Water area (2000):    0.066692 sq. miles (0.172731 sq. km)
   Total area (2000):    0.634863 sq. miles (1.644286 sq. km)
   FIPS code:            35424
   Located within:       Pennsylvania (PA), FIPS 42
   Location:             40.405069 N, 79.907785 W
   ZIP Codes (1990):
   Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
   Headwords:
    Homestead, PA
    Homestead