yeoman

[yoh-muh n]

noun, plural yeo·men.

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

British. a farmer who cultivates his own land.

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

Archaic.

a servant, attendant, or subordinate official in a royal or other great household.
a subordinate or assistant, as of a sheriff or other official or in a craft or trade.

adjective

of, pertaining to, composed of, or characteristic of yeomen: the yeoman class.

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.

Origin of yeoman

1300–50; Middle English yeman, yoman, probably reduced forms of yengman, yongman, yungman, with similar sense; see young, man¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for yeomen

servant, assistant, clerk, commoner, farmer, subordinate, churl, attendant, freeholder

Examples from the Web for yeomen

Contemporary Examples of yeomen

Today, the Yeomen of the Guard continue this historic search, in addition to more hi-tec security checks by police.
Queen Opens Parliament Today in Colorful Ancient Ceremony
Tom Sykes
May 9, 2012

Historical Examples of yeomen

The tall pines themselves shook with the cheer which the yeomen raised.
In the Valley
Harold Frederic
Of those Yorkshire yeomen, one is too tall and the other too short for that bold knave.
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
Howard Pyle
Then all the yeomen were silenced by the scorn of his words.
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
Howard Pyle
But the yeos (meaning the yeomen) will call out mightily,—'Piper!
Tom Burke Of "Ours", Volume I (of II)
Charles James Lever
No end of Yeomen on the beaches; the cream of agricultural England.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume 2
Ian Hamilton

British Dictionary definitions for yeomen

yeoman

noun plural -men

history

a member of a class of small freeholders of common birth who cultivated their own land
an assistant or other subordinate to an official, such as a sheriff, or to a craftsman or trader
an attendant or lesser official in a royal or noble household

(in Britain) another name for yeoman of the guard

(modifier) characteristic of or relating to a yeoman

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

Word Origin for yeoman

C15: perhaps from yongman young man

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for yeomen

yeoman

c.1300, "attendant in a noble household," of unknown origin, perhaps a contraction of Old English iunge man "young man," or from an unrecorded Old English *geaman, equivalent of Old Frisian gaman "villager," from Old English -gea "district, village," cognate with Old Frisian ga, ge, from Proto-Germanic *gaujan.

Sense of "commoner who cultivates his land" is recorded from early 15c.; also the third order of fighting men (late 14c., below knights and squires, above knaves), hence yeomen's service "good, efficient service" (c.1600). Meaning "naval petty officer in charge of supplies" is first attested 1660s. Yeowoman first recorded 1852: "Then I am yeo-woman O the clumsy word!" [Tennyson, "The Foresters"]