I. ˈhōmzˌted, -mˌst- also -_tə̇d or -_stə̇d noun
Etymology: home (I) + stead
1.
a. : the home and land of a family ; especially : ancestral home
coming into possession … of the old Abbot homestead “Three Beeches” — Witmer Stone
b. : a private residence : house
a seventeenth-century farm homestead with thatched roof — A.N.Whitehead
c. : the living quarters on a ranch in Australasia
a good station to manage because the homestead is near the middle — Nevil Shute
2.
a. : a tract of land usually consisting of 160 acres acquired from United States public lands by filing a record and living on and cultivating the tract
these fences marked the boundaries of the small homesteads which had recently been claimed — Agnes M. Cleaveland
b. : the land and buildings on such a tract occupied as a home for the owner and his family and more or less legally protected in some jurisdictions from the claims of creditors against both the owner and his surviving spouse and minor children — see homestead law
II. transitive verb
: to acquire or occupy as a homestead under a homestead law
lacked the experience needed to homestead virgin territory — R.A.Billington
intransitive verb
: to acquire or settle on land under a homestead law
the original settler in the area … has lived there since he homesteaded back in 1902 — Byron Fish