Steedholder InStead

Steadholder

I have a problem pronouncing this word. I know that the proper pronunciation is sted-holder. However, steedholder sounds (to my ears) much better to me.

Definition of stead
1. : obsolete : locality, place
2. : advantage — used chiefly in the phrase to stand one in good stead
3. : the office, place, or function ordinarily occupied or carried out by someone or something else <acted in his brother's stead>


advantage Hint: This sense of stead is used mostly in the phrase stand someone in good stead. <Buck's marvellous quickness and agility stood him in good stead. — Jack London, The Call of the Wild>
2 : the place usually taken or duty carried out by the person or thing mentioned <I'll work in your stead.

There has been horses in my family for generations. And I know a steed is a horse. Yet, when I come upon Steadholder in storyline, Steedholder just sounds better when reading.

Looking up the etymology of steadholder I find...

A stadtholder, literally place holder (in modern Dutch "stad" means "city", but the older meaning of "stad" - also "stede" - was "place", and it is a cognate of English "stead", as "in stead of"), was a term for a "steward" or "lieutenant".


I wonder what inspiration RFC uses?

Chockitup to quirks in my brain.

So basically you are describing Honor Alexander-Harrington as a horse holder?

cthia wrote:I have a problem pronouncing this word. I know that the proper pronunciation is sted-holder. However, steedholder sounds (to my ears) much better to me.

Rincewind wrote:So basically you are describing Honor Alexander-Harrington as a horse holder?

If I was being sarcastic, I could just say that cthia was being a horse's A**

What can I say, sometimes I have a weird sense of humor

I would assume that the name comes from the frontier practice of homesteading. AKA building a log cabin and starting to farm the area. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_(buildings) this would always be pronounced with the sted pronunciation and I assume that the Steadholder evolved out of the leader of the small settler community as the legal owner of the land... the homestead holder which in normal linguistics can easily evolve to steadholder as shorthand.

This is reinforced by the fact the original settlers were from the north American Midwest region.

Under this assumption the steed holder pronunciation would always be wrong.

I've always pronounced it in a crazy German/Anglo-Saxon/psuedo-Dutch accent as Stedholder, with the occasional elision to Stadtholter. I wonder if Rev. Austen's religious sensibilities included Dutch Reformed origins.

Australian stations (ranches to the US) have their main house called a Homestead - pronounced homested. I grew up in one. Our original settlers (called Squatters) used it as a verb. "We went up north and homesteaded there".

Silverwall wrote:I would assume that the name comes from the frontier practice of homesteading. AKA building a log cabin and starting to farm the area. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_(buildings) this would always be pronounced with the sted pronunciation and I assume that the Steadholder evolved out of the leader of the small settler community as the legal owner of the land... the homestead holder which in normal linguistics can easily evolve to steadholder as shorthand.

This is reinforced by the fact the original settlers were from the north American Midwest region.

Under this assumption the steed holder pronunciation would always be wrong.

Actually both Cthia & Fox21 have got a point; (although it was Cthia's quirkiness that converted it to Steedholder & thus sparked off this whole topic).

In part of his entry Cthia quoted the following:

Looking up the etymology of steadholder I find...

A stadtholder, literally place holder (in modern Dutch "stad" means "city", but the older meaning of "stad" - also "stede" - was "place", and it is a cognate of English "stead", as "in stead of"), was a term for a "steward" or "lieutenant".

Likewise Fox21 made a similar point, also referring to it as originating with the Dutch term Stadtholder. Your point about Austen Grayson's origins being Mid Western USA could also make Fox21's point possible as Idaho is one of the areas in the United States that has a significant Dutch American population.

A further reinforcement would be that a feudal lord; (in this case the Protector) would appoint another lord to act in his stead or place, the original meaning of the word, over a defined area. Given the dire circumstances they faced & the fact that Steadholders literally had the power of life & death over their Steadings it then becomes even more appropriate.

A similar (though largely ceremonial now) title here in the UK would be the office of Lord Lieutenant, appointed by the Monarch to act as their personal representative in a specific area, usually a county.

I am in agreement with your point about the way it should be pronounced, though.

As an additional note, homesteading is still legal in the United States, and may be in other countries. The laws vary by state. The process, in it's original design, allowed for a homesteader to acquire up to 160 acres of land. File an application for a permit to the appropriate unclaimed land. Make the required improvements and reside on the property for a period of time. Lastly you file for a property deed. All without actually buying the property.

Most people aren't aware of this process, but it is possible to still do this.

Fireflair wrote:As an additional note, homesteading is still legal in the United States, and may be in other countries. The laws vary by state. The process, in it's original design, allowed for a homesteader to acquire up to 160 acres of land. File an application for a permit to the appropriate unclaimed land. Make the required improvements and reside on the property for a period of time. Lastly you file for a property deed. All without actually buying the property.

Most people aren't aware of this process, but it is possible to still do this.

Apparently not since 1976 with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act.

kzt wrote:

Fireflair wrote:As an additional note, homesteading is still legal in the United States, and may be in other countries. The laws vary by state. The process, in it's original design, allowed for a homesteader to acquire up to 160 acres of land. File an application for a permit to the appropriate unclaimed land. Make the required improvements and reside on the property for a period of time. Lastly you file for a property deed. All without actually buying the property.

Most people aren't aware of this process, but it is possible to still do this.

Apparently not since 1976 with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act.

You still can in several states. IIRC several states have tracts of unowned land that is not owned by either or state the federal government. The state's are AK WY MT ND SD ID CO AZ NM UT and NV.