stand in good stead

Old English stede "place, position, standing, delay," related to standan "to stand," from Proto-Germanic *stadiz (cf. Old Saxon stedi, Old Norse staðr, Swedish stad, Dutch stede "place," Old High German stat, German Stadt "town," Gothic staþs "place"), from PIE *stetis-, from root *sta- "to stand" (see stet). Now chiefly in compounds or phrases. "The sense 'town, city' for G. Stadt is a late development from c.1200 when the term began to replace Burg" [Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names].