yeoman

yeo·man (yō′mən)

noun pl. -·men-mən

Historical, Brit.
1. an attendant or manservant in a royal or noble household
2. an assistant or subordinate, as to a sheriff
3. a freeholder of a class below the gentry, who worked his own land
Brit.
1. a person who owns and cultivates a relatively small tract of land
2. yeoman of the (royal) guard
3. a member of the yeomanry (sense )
U.S. Navy a petty officer assigned to clerical duty

Etymology: ME yeman, prob. contr. < yengman, yung man, lit., young man

adjective

of or characteristic of yeomen

A naval clerk
commissary clerk, ship's writer, officer's assistant, scribe*, supercargo*, quill driver*; see also clerk 2, secretary 2.
A stout fellow
common man, commoner, farmer, homesteader, freeborn man, freeholder; see also citizen, man 2.

Converse of object

Adjective modifier

prosperous: Eliot's father, a prosperous yeoman ( then living at Nazeing, Essex ), was able to provide him with adequate support.
English: Clearly no ill-fed foot soldier but an English yeoman whose Godly ways have been rewarded with earthly riches.
wealthy: Wealthy yeoman would be expected to also be trained and armed with a sword, dagger and the longbow.
several: The principal landowner is Sir Musgrave Brisco, beside whom there are several resident yeomen.
stout: No, there's much simpler fare on this stout yeoman 's mind - " Girlfriends... without the five year plan!
few: Jackson, D.D. , Mr. Edward Clark, Mr. John Mounsey, and a few resident yeomen.

Modifies a noun

warder: The Tower of London have some special late night entrances with private tours with the yeoman warders.
farmer: Our subject's father was a yeoman farmer who rented land on which he kept upwards of a hundred sheep.
family: My seeking has not found any evidence of recusant yeoman family records earlier than about 1600.
service: It performed yeoman service in getting the 9/11 oral histories released.
work: Shortly thereafter, we met up with Tony Robinson, a Keble alumnus who did yeoman work in setting up the dinner.
stock: On his father's side, business and scholarship had been grafted upon a solid yeoman stock of Norfolk.

Noun used with modifier

king's: M ( Charter ) Wed; gr 28 Jun 1251, by K Hen III to Edmund de Lacy, king's yeoman.
resident: The soil belongs mostly to the resident yeomen, of whom Messrs. Wm.
century: In 1963 she moved into Grange House at Warley, a 17th century yeoman clothier's house.

Possessives

house: The center was a yeoman's house, erected by one Skelton.
wife: But no matter how hard the yeoman's wife or daughter might work, certain tasks were considered inappropriate for their station.
son: One is of the yeoman's son of a Saxon village Thane, as was Michael's Robin.

Possessives

king: M ( Charter ) Thurs; gr 20 Apr 1251, by K Hen III to Edmund de Lacy, king's yeoman.

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