yeoˇman
(y
m
n)
KEY
NOUN:
-
- An attendant, servant, or lesser official in a royal or noble household.
- A yeoman of the guard.
- A petty officer performing chiefly clerical duties in the U.S. Navy.
- An assistant or other subordinate, as of a sheriff.
- A diligent, dependable worker.
- A farmer who cultivates his own land, especially a member of a former class of small freeholders in England.
ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English
yoman, perhaps from Old English *
g
aman, from Old Frisian
g
man,
villager :
g,
region, district +
man,
man; see
man-
1 in Indo-European roots
