yeoman of the guard

American  

noun

1. a member of the bodyguard of the English sovereign, instituted in 1485, which now consists of 100 men, including officers, having purely ceremonial duties.

---

yeoman of the guard British  

noun

1. a member of the bodyguard ( Yeomen of the Guard ) of the English monarch. This unit was founded in 1485 and now retains ceremonial functions only

---

Etymology

Origin of yeoman of the guard

First recorded in 1475–85

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

yeoman of the guard

Among the yeoman of the guard of John Frederick, Duke of Hanover, there was one Christopher Munster, 8 1/2 feet high, who died in 1676 in his forty-fifth year.

From Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine by Pyle, Walter L. (Walter Lytle)

Then sometimes would the king take a yeoman of the guard and make him his companion in jousts and tournaments, solely because of his brawn and bone.

From When Knighthood Was in Flower or, the Love Story of Charles Brandon and Mary Tudor the King's Sister, and Happening in the Reign of His August Majesty King Henry the Eighth by Major, Charles

They paced the length of the gallery in silence, past the yeoman of the guard, who kept his watch, and into the first antechamber.

From The Historical Nights' Entertainment Second Series by Sabatini, Rafael

David somehow secured the favour of Henry VII., to whom he seems to have been yeoman of the guard.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4 "Bulgaria" to "Calgary" by Various

Does Your Reverence know, that though I never rose higher yet than to be an officer's servant, I am to be a yeoman of the guard.

From The Loyalists, Vol. 1-3 An Historical Novel by West, Jane