Yeoman

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈjəʊ.mÉ™n/
• US IPA: /ˈjoÊŠ.mÉ™n/
• Rhymes: -əʊmÉ™n

Origin

Middle English yoman, yeman, from Old English *gēaman (compare Old Frisian gāman ("villager"), Middle Dutch goymann ‘arbiter’), compound of gē, gēa ‘district, region’ (in ælgē, Sūthrigēa), from Proto-Germanic *gawi (compare West Frisian gea, goa, Dutch gouw, German Gau), and mann ‘man’.

Robert K. Barnhart, ed., Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, s.v. “yeoman” (Edinburgh: Chambers, 2008, c1988), 1253.

American Heritage Dictionary, 4th edn., s.v. “yeoman”.

More at man.

Full definition of yeoman

Noun

1. An official providing honorable service in a royal or high noble household, ranking between a squire and a page.
2. (historical) A former class of small freeholders who farm their own land; a commoner of good standing.
3. A subordinate, deputy, aide, or assistant.
4. A Yeoman Warder.
5. A clerk in the US navy, and US Coast Guard.
6. (nautical) In a vessel of war, the person in charge of the storeroom.
7. A member of the Yeomanry Cavalry officially chartered in 1794 originating around the 1760s.
8. A member of the Imperial Yeomanry officially created in 1890s and renamed in 1907.

Derived terms