What does "stead" mean?
Stead: 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.
Additional senses
- 2.A frame on which a bed is laid; a bedstead. [R.] The genial bed, Sallow the feet, the borders, and the stead. Dryden.
- 3.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.
- 4.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.
- 5.To fill place of. [Obs.] Shak.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00