Literary notes about stead (AI summary)
The term "stead" is employed in literature to denote substitution or replacement, often carrying an air of formality or antiquity. In some works, it signifies someone or something taking another's place, as when a son succeeds his father on the throne ([1], [2], [3]), or when a steward or representative is mentioned in lieu of another person ([4], [5]). In other instances, it appears in phrases like "stood him in good stead," where it implies that previous experience or circumstance has provided lasting benefit ([6], [7], [8]). The word’s versatility is further highlighted by its use in both elevated narrative and colloquial dialogue, from the stately regency of biblical texts to the rustic vernacular of characters speaking in dialect ([9], [10], [11]), underscoring its long-standing role in evoking substitution in a variety of literary contexts.
- Now it came to pass that Naas the king of the children of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his stead.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - So Achab slept with his fathers; and Ochozias, his son, reigned in his stead.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - And when Saul was dead, Balanan the son of Achobor reigned in his stead. 1:50.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - "Keep her for yourself," I said to the steward, "and if you have a fat calf, bring that in her stead."
— from The Arabian Nights Entertainments by Andrew Lang - His sisters were gone to Morton in my stead: I sat reading Schiller; he, deciphering his crabbed Oriental scrolls.
— from Jane Eyre: An Autobiography by Charlotte Brontë - The self-possession which pre-eminently distinguished him in later life already stood him in good stead, and he did not betray his amazement.
— from Father Goriot by Honoré de Balzac - His early training, when he fought with Lip-lip and the whole puppy-pack, stood him in good stead.
— from White Fang by Jack London - However, we will employ an artifice which will often stand us in good stead.
— from Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic by Henri Bergson - Wakem 'ud be fine and glad to have a son like mine,–a fine straight fellow,–i'stead o' that poor crooked creatur!
— from The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot - But I hate to be talking where it's no use: I like to keep my breath for doing i'stead o' talking.”
— from Adam Bede by George Eliot - i'stead o' saying, and making a boast, as you've never asked us for anything."
— from The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
