yeoman

American  

[yoh-muhn] / ˈyoʊ mən /

noun

plural

yeomen

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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Etymology

Origin of yeoman

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

Coast Guard, serving as a yeoman first class from 1955 to 1959 before coming to the Pacific Northwest to pursue his education.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 1, 2023

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

That’s how Reed described the yeoman worker who phoned him to say that, indeed, trainer D. Wayne Lukas and owners had decided to scratch Ethereal Road, right around the 9 a.m. deadline.

From Washington Post • May 7, 2022

The eldest of seven sons of a yeoman farmer, William was educated at King’s School, Canterbury, and Caius College in Cambridge, where he obtained his BA in 1597 and probably began to study medicine.

From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin