yeoman

American  

[yoh-muhn] / ˈjoʊ mən /

noun

• yeomen
  plural

1. a petty officer in a navy, having chiefly clerical duties in the U.S. Navy.

2. British. a farmer who cultivates his own land.

3. History/Historical. one of a class of lesser freeholders, below the gentry, who cultivated their own land, early admitted in England to political rights.

4. Archaic.

   1. a servant, attendant, or subordinate official in a royal or other great household.

   2. a subordinate or assistant, as of a sheriff or other official or in a craft or trade.

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adjective

1. of, pertaining to, composed of, or characteristic of yeomen.

   the yeoman class.

2. performed or rendered in a loyal, valiant, useful, or workmanlike manner, especially in situations that involve a great deal of effort or labor.

   He did a yeoman job on the problem.

yeoman British  

/ ˈjəʊmən /

noun

1. history

   1. a member of a class of small freeholders of common birth who cultivated their own land

   2. an assistant or other subordinate to an official, such as a sheriff, or to a craftsman or trader

   3. an attendant or lesser official in a royal or noble household

2. (in Britain) another name for yeoman of the guard

3. (modifier) characteristic of or relating to a yeoman

4. a petty officer or noncommissioned officer in the Royal Navy or Marines in charge of signals

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• yeomen
  plural

Etymology

Origin of yeoman

1300–50; Middle English yeman, yoman, probably reduced forms of yengman, yongman, yungman, with similar sense; see young, man

Explanation

A yeoman was a farmer who owned and worked his own land — not to be confused with "yo, man!" Although experts aren't entirely sure of the origin of yeoman, they speculate that it is a shortened version of young man. Yeoman is now just a historic term and it is unlikely to be used to describe a landowning farmer today. There are modern uses for the word, however, including in the U.S. Navy, the Royal Navy, a Yeoman of the Guard, and similar military terms.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

yeoman yeomen

One might prefer the selfless virtue exemplified by Washington, the yeoman simplicity imagined by Jefferson.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

And that was at a time when the main military bullwork of the country was the militia, these part-time, yeoman farmers.

From Slate ● May 3, 2023

A decade later, after what colleagues and constituents called the senator’s yeoman service as an advocate on health and environmental issues, a hidden side of Mr. Durenberger began to surface.

From New York Times ● Jan. 31, 2023

But as they had in St. Louis the prior night, the penalty kill did yeoman work and the Blackhawks mustered very little.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 7, 2022

And he is a commoner, a yeoman, so I don’t look for him among the gentlemen.

From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone

No banks equivalent to those that proliferated in 18th-century England existed in America, and many hoped a republic of yeomen farmers could do without them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

Federalists, typified by Manhattanite Alexander Hamilton, desired a restless, churning urban nation and opposed the Jeffersonian vision of a republic of rural yeomen.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 14, 2023

Their style of play was seen to be "clumsy and oafish... like that of medieval yeomen".

From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2020

Miscreant yeomen who poached a swan egg, or harassed nesting swans, or — heaven forbid — ate a swan could be punished by a year and a day in jail.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 19, 2018

In the midst of the great company were ladies, pikemen, men at arms, and yeomen.

From "The Door in the Wall" by Marguerite de Angeli