nounDate: 1847 1. a law exempting a homestead from attachment or sale under execution for general debts 2. any of several legislative acts authorizing the sale of public lands in homesteads
Homestead Home"stead, n. [AS. h[=a]mstede.] 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) 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.]