yeoman
See also: Yeoman
English
WOTD – 30 September 2009
Etymology
From Middle English yoman, yeman, from Old English *ġēamann (compare Old Frisian gāman (“villager”), Middle Dutch goymann (“arbiter”)), compound of ġē, ġēa (“district, region”) (in ælġē, Sūþriġēa), from Proto-Germanic *gawją (compare West Frisian gea, goa, Dutch gouw, German Gau) + mann (“man”).[1][2]
Noun
yeoman (plural yeomen)
- (Britain) 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).
- (US) A dependable, diligent, or loyal worker or someone who does a great service.
- (historical) A former class of small freeholders who farm their own land; a commoner of good standing.
- A subordinate, deputy, aide, or assistant.
- A Yeoman Warder.
- A clerk in the US Navy, and US Coast Guard.
- (nautical) In a vessel of war, the person in charge of the storeroom.
- A member of the Yeomanry Cavalry, officially chartered in 1794 originating around the 1760s.
- A member of the Imperial Yeomanry, officially created in 1890s and renamed in 1907.
Derived terms
Derived terms
- chief yeoman of the signals
- good yeoman service
- king's yeoman
- navigator's yeoman
- queen's yeoman
- traveling yeoman
- yeoman archer
- yeoman of the king's pantry
- yeoman of the king's buttery
- yeoman of the horse or carriage
- yeoman usher of the black rod
- yeomanry
- yeomanry cavalry
- yeoman's job
- yeoman's service
- yeoman of the stores
- yeoman of the chamber
- yeomen of the crown
- yeomen of the guard
- yeowoman
Translations
official in a royal or high noble household
small freeholder
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Yeoman Warder — see Yeoman Warder
nautical: person in charge of the storeroom
Further reading
yeoman on Wikipedia.Wikipedia yeoman in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)
References
- Robert K. Barnhart, ed., Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, s.v. “yeoman” (Edinburgh: Chambers, [2008], c1988), 1253.
- American Heritage Dictionary, 4th edn., s.v. “yeoman”.
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