stead

stead · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*stéh₂tis“standing, location”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*stadiz“place”
3. Old English · inherited fromstede
4. Middle English · inherited fromsted, stede
5. English todaystead

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.

stead · noun²

Clipping of steady.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 15th c. The position or function (of someone or something), as taken on by a successor.
• 10th–19th c. A place, or spot, in general; location.
• 10th–18th c. A place where a person normally rests; a seat.
• 13th–16th c. An inhabited place; a settlement, city, town etc.
• 15th–19th c. The frame on which a bed is laid; a bedstead.