Etymologically
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instead

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɪnˈsted/[1]

Etymology

It is a compound, from English in + stead, from the Middle English phrase in stede (“in place”) (early dialect i stude),[2][3][4] formed from in and stead in the sense “place assigned to one”.[3][2] Etymonline and Hoad describe the phrase as a loan-translation of Latin in locō or Old French en lieu de.[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In stead of, “in place of”: i stude, probably before 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle;[2][6] in stede about 1300.[2]

Semantic evolution

The phrase was usually written separately until the mid-17th century.[3][7] The solid form instede first appears before 1387, in Trevisa's translation of Higden,[2] and the OED's first one-word example is from 1595;[6] the spelling instead became established about 1650.[2] After that the phrase was written separately only with a possessive, as in the phrase in his stead.[2] Instead without of, “as a substitute”, is first found in Milton in 1667.[2][6][8] Instead of used before a preposition or adjective (instead of in the drawer) is from 1834.[6]

Timeline

  • before 1200 – i stude (Ancrene Riwle).[2]
  • c. 1300 – in stede of.[2]
  • before 1387 – solid instede (Trevisa).[2]
  • c. 1650 – the spelling instead established.[2]
  • 1667 – instead without of (Milton).[2][6]

Modern meaning

Adverb

  1. In place of something already mentioned; as a substitute.
  2. As an alternative; in preference.

Preposition

  1. (instead of) In place of; rather than.

Word family

  • instead of
  • stead
  • steady
  • homestead
  • in lieu

Usage notes

In West Yorkshire dialect the word had forms such as esteead, used with on for instead of.[9]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)