stead

/stɛd/

stead noun: the position or function (of someone or something), as taken on by a successor.

Noun (1)

stead (plural steads)

The position or function (of someone or something), as taken on by a successor.
- She was so wretched and so vehement, complained so much of injustice in being expected to go away instead of Anne; Anne, who was nothing to Louisa, while she was her sister, and had the best right to stay in Henrietta's stead!1817 (date written), [Jane Austen], Persuasion; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volume (please specify |volume=III or IV), London: John Murray, […], 20 December 1817 (indicated as...
- His nurse had told him all about changelings, and how the little people would always try to steal a beautiful human child out of its cradle and put in its stead one of their own ailing, puking brats […]1961, Muriel Saint Clare Byrne, Elizabethan Life in Town and Country, page 285
(figuratively) A place as it relates to a role, service, or ability; capacity.
- One may not expect to entirely stop the oncoming energy but the outgoing stands in a different stead, for in this a certain amount of ruling is possible by the native.1902, Alvidas, Science and Key of Life: Planetary Influences, volume 1
- For instance, those who operate under generally available terms and conditions or whose interconnection agreements do not confer a contractual right to the BOC performance they seek under section 271 may stand in a different stead than those who have pursued claims that a BOC has failed to perform...2000, FCC Record
(figuratively, uncountable) A relational or circumstantial position; standing.
- Though small and delicate-looking, she gave an impression of intense earnestness and latent toughness, qualities that stood her in good stead when she dared to challenge the most intrusive communist society in eastern Europe.2010 September 19, Dan van der Vat, The Guardian
(countable, figuratively) A place as it relates to situation, circumstance, or status; condition.
- Anthropology in India started in a different stead than what was the situation of its emergence in other countries.1969, Proceedings of the Indian Science Congress
- I shiver to the cold solitude
  Overwhelming desire to have a different stead
  I don't know why
  I don't know why
  I'm just afraid to fly […]2013, Sonnia De Guzman, Collected Poems, page 41
(archaic, literary) A place, or spot, in general; location.
- For he ne wonneth in one certaine stead, / But restlesse walketh all the world around[…].1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
- The three Princes ceased not travelling together for seven days, at the end of which time one said to other, "Let us separate and let each make search in a different stead, so haply shall we hit upon our need."1885, Sir Richard Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night
(obsolete) A place where a person normally rests; a seat.
- There now the hart, fearlesse of greyhound, feeds, / And loving pelican in safety breeds; / There shrieking satyres fill the people's emptie steads.1633, P. Fletcher, Purple Island
(obsolete) An inhabited place; a settlement, city, town etc.
(archaic) An estate, a property with its grounds; a farm; a homestead.
- But of course I could not do this by myself, so I took a Hottentot—a very clever man when he was not drunk—who lived on the stead, into my confidence.1889 December, H[enry] Rider Haggard, “[Allan’s Wife] The Baboon-Woman”, in Allan’s Wife and Other Tales, London: Spencer Blackett, […], →OCLC, page 123
- Nordic types may turn to Frigga as queen mother of Asgard, or even to good friend Thor, known to gladly bless a new stead and to party with the best.2008, Bronwynn Forrest Torgerson, One Witch's Way, page 5
(obsolete) The frame on which a bed is laid; a bedstead.
- The genial bed / Sallow the feet, the borders, and the stead.1693, John Dryden, Baucis and Philemon

Verb

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

(obsolete) To help, support, benefit or assist; to be helpful.
- May you stead me? will you pleasure me? shall I know your answer?c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- I could never better stead thee than now.[…]c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
(obsolete) To fill the stead or place of something.

Noun (2)

stead (plural steads)

(Singapore, colloquial) One's partner in a romantic relationship.
- C'mon lah!! Wake up.. Y R U stupid girls so CHEAP!! Imagine a baby making out with an adult! Want to have stead,.. Go find 1 16yr old rich kid lah!! At for let those men take advantage!! Remember Men CANNOT be Trusted!! Boys maybe can.1997 May 27, Ordinary People, soc.culture.singapore (Usenet)
- I prefer to know a guy better as a friend first before even considering him as a potential stead.1998 April 17, L.Angel, soc.culture.singapore (Usenet)

Proper noun capitalized: Stead

Stead (countable and uncountable, plural Steads)

A surname.
A locality in Burley parish, Metropolitan Borough of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England (OS grid ref SE1446).

stead meaning in Tamil, Bengali and Indonesian

stead in Indonesian

to help; to support; to benefit; to assist: menolong, membantu, mendukung

Examples of stead in a sentence

Had Daniel Ortega not got himself illegally on to this year’s ballot to seek a third term, his wife might have run in his stead.2011 March 31, “Kin selection”, in The Economist:
He had intended to create diamonds with his experiments, but the accidental discovery of such amazingly explosive chemical reactions served him in a different stead.2013, Kevin J. Anderson, Clockwork Angels:
It is not only the sheer size of its endowment or the range and extent of its network ties that place it in a different stead to other unofficial actors.2014, Michael Moran, Private Foundations and Development Partnerships:
The Adidas shirts look fantastic and certainly put us in a different stead.2019, Davinder Sangha, White Shorts, White Socks:

All 23 example sentences with stead

Forms of stead

Noun
plural	steads
Verb
third-person singular present	steads
present participle	steading
past participle	steaded
past	steaded
Proper noun
plural	Steads

Plural of stead: steads

Origin of stead

From Middle English sted, stede (noun) and steden (verb), from Old English stede, from Proto-Germanic *stadiz (“place”), from Proto-Indo-European *stéh₂tis (“standing, location”). Doublet of stad. cognates and related terms Cognate with Scots steid (“location, place”), North Frisian Stair, Stat, steed, stää (“city, town; place, stead”), Saterland Frisian Steede (“place, stead”), Stääd (“city, town”), West Frisian stêd (“city, town”), Bavarian Stådt (“city, town”), Dutch stad, stede (“city, town”), German Stadt (“city, town”), Statt (“abode, place, stead”), Stätte (“place, spot, venue”), German Low German Stee (“location, place”), Luxembourgish Stad (“city, town”), Vilamovian śtaod (“city, town”), Yiddish שטאָט (shtot, “city, town”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål stad (“city, town”), sted (“place”), Faroese stað (“place”), staður (“location, place; town”), Icelandic staður (“location, place”), Norn sta (“domicile, farm”), Norwegian Nynorsk stad (“place; city, town”), Swedish stad, stadh, stedt (“city, town”), Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌸𐍃 (staþs, “location, place”). See the doublet stasis.

Clipping of steady.

Words formed from stead

Phrases with stead

Words that rhyme with stead

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about stead

What does stead mean?: Stead means the position or function (of someone or something), as taken on by a successor.
What is stead in Tamil?: Stead in Tamil is இடம். See Stead meaning in Tamil.
How do you use stead in a sentence?: Had Daniel Ortega not got himself illegally on to this year’s ballot to seek a third term, his wife might have run in his stead.
What part of speech is stead?: Stead can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce stead?: Stead is pronounced /stɛd/.
What is the plural of stead?: The plural of stead is steads.

Words near stead in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: stead (page history and authors); Stead (page history and authors); stead (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); stead (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-stead.ogg.

Cite this entry: “stead.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/stead. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.