yeoman
pronunciation
How to pronounce yeoman in British English:
UK [ˈjəʊmən]
How to pronounce yeoman in American English:
US [ˈjoʊmən]
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- Noun:
- officer in the (ceremonial) bodyguard of the British monarch
- in former times was free and cultivated his own land
Word Origin
- yeoman
- yeoman: [14] Etymologically, a yeoman is probably simply a ‘young man’; indeed originally the word denoted a ‘junior household servant’, between a squire and a page in rank. It started life as yongman, a compound of Middle English yong ‘young’ and man, and was gradually eroded to yeoman. The modern sense ‘freeholding farmer’, and its metaphorical extensions, emerged in the 15th century.=> man, young
- yeoman (n.)
- 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, region, village," cognate with Old Frisian ga, ge, German Gau, Gothic gawi, 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"]
Example
- 1. The role of the yeoman warrior helped make the city states exceptional .
- 2. The yeoman could never own and work on their land after the movement .
- 3. Her uncle spend two years on a warship as a yeoman .
- 4. Did you know manda was promoted to captain 's yeoman ?
- 5. I am owain yeoman , and I am a vegetarian .