stead
/stɛd
/noun
The place or role that someone or something should have or fill (used in referring to a substitute): you wish to have him superseded and to be appointed in his stead...
- Managing to gain King Peter's favor, she has acted in his stead during his illness.
- He quoted the Local Autonomy Act, saying that a mayor has to issue an order appointing a deputy mayor to act in his stead.
- They had ceased to patronise the nautch, and in its stead preferred English music or military bands.
Phrases
stand someone in good stead
Origin
Old English stede 'place', of Germanic origin; related to Dutch stad 'town', German Statt 'place', Stadt 'town', from an Indo-European root shared by the verb stand.
Old English stede meant ‘place’. From a Germanic source, it is related to Dutch stad ‘town’, German Statt ‘place’, from an Indo-European root shared by the verb stand. Instead (Middle English) is simply ‘in stead, in place of’ run together. The adjective steadfast [Old English] is literally ‘standing firm’; a homestead (Old English) is your ‘home place’; while if you are steady (Middle English) you are not easily moved from your place. See also place