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Webster 1913 Edition


Yeoman

Yeo′man

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Yeomen
.
[OE.
yoman
,
ȝeman
,
ȝoman
; of uncertain origin; perhaps the first, syllable is akin to OFries.
gā
district, region, G.
gau
, OHG.
gewi
,
gouwi
, Goth.
gawi
. √100.]
1.
A common man, or one of the commonly of the first or most respectable class; a freeholder; a man free born.
☞ A yeoman in England is considered as next in order to the gentry. The word is little used in the United States, unless as a title in law proceedings and instruments, designating occupation, and this only in particular States.
2.
A servant; a retainer.
[Obs.]
A
yeman
hadde he and servants no mo.
Chaucer.
3.
A yeoman of the guard; also, a member of the yeomanry cavalry.
[Eng.]
4.
(Naut.)
An interior officer under the boatswain, gunner, or carpenters, charged with the stowage, account, and distribution of the stores.
Yeoman of the guard
,
one of the bodyguard of the English sovereign, consisting of the hundred yeomen, armed with partisans, and habited in the costume of the sixteenth century. They are members of the royal household.

Webster 1828 Edition


Yeoman

YEOMAN

,
Noun.
[See Common.]
1.
A common man, or one of the plebeians, of the first or most respectable class; a freeholder; a man free born. A yeoman in England is considered as next in order to the gentry. The word is little used in the United States, unless as a title in law proceedings and instruments, designating occupation, and this only in particular states. But yeomanry is much used.
2.
An officer in the kings household, of a middle rank between a gentleman and a groom.
3.
In ships, an inferior officer under the boatswain, gunner or carpenters, charged with the stowage, account and distribution of the stores.
4.
A name or title of certain soldiers; as yeomen of the guard.

Definition 2024


yeoman

yeoman

English

Noun

yeoman (plural yeomen)

  1. An official providing honorable service in a royal or high noble household, ranking between a squire and a page. Especially, a Yeoman of the Guard, a member of a ceremonial bodyguard to the UK monarch (not to be confused with a Yeoman Warder).
  2. (historical) A former class of small freeholders who farm their own land; a commoner of good standing.
  3. A subordinate, deputy, aide, or assistant.
  4. A Yeoman Warder.
  5. A clerk in the US navy, and US Coast Guard.
  6. (nautical) In a vessel of war, the person in charge of the storeroom.
  7. A member of the Yeomanry Cavalry officially chartered in 1794 originating around the 1760s.
  8. A member of the Imperial Yeomanry officially created in 1890s and renamed in 1907.

Derived terms

Translations

References

  1. Robert K. Barnhart, ed., Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, s.v. “yeoman” (Edinburgh: Chambers, [2008], c1988), 1253.
  2. American Heritage Dictionary, 4th edn., s.v. “yeoman”.

See also