yeoman

[ yoh-muhn ]

noun

, plural yeo·men.

1. a petty officer in a navy, having chiefly clerical duties in the U.S. Navy.
2. British. a farmer who cultivates his own land.
3. History/Historical. one of a class of lesser freeholders, below the gentry, who cultivated their own land, early admitted in England to political rights.
4. Archaic.
   1. a servant, attendant, or subordinate official in a royal or other great household.
   2. a subordinate or assistant, as of a sheriff or other official or in a craft or trade.

adjective

1. of, pertaining to, composed of, or characteristic of yeomen:

   the yeoman class.

2. performed or rendered in a loyal, valiant, useful, or workmanlike manner, especially in situations that involve a great deal of effort or labor:

   He did a yeoman job on the problem.

yeoman

/ ˈjəʊmən /

noun

1. history
   1. a member of a class of small freeholders of common birth who cultivated their own land
   2. an assistant or other subordinate to an official, such as a sheriff, or to a craftsman or trader
   3. an attendant or lesser official in a royal or noble household
2. (in Britain) another name for yeoman of the guard
3. modifier characteristic of or relating to a yeoman
4. a petty officer or noncommissioned officer in the Royal Navy or Marines in charge of signals

Word History and Origins

Origin of yeoman¹

1300–50; Middle English yeman, yoman, probably reduced forms of yengman, yongman, yungman, with similar sense; young, man

Word History and Origins

Origin of yeoman¹

C15: perhaps from yongman young man

Example Sentences

That’s a fundamental concern of sculpture in every artistic age and culture — its brass ring, if you will — and here it does yeoman’s work in energizing spaces both actual and illusionistic.

From Los Angeles Times

Their deputy is called the Yeoman Usher of the Black Rod, external.

From BBC

“This has the potential to be a game-changing technology for safety in the railroad industry,” Yeoman said about what would be a first-of-its kind program.

From Los Angeles Times

While it accounts for human error by automatically stopping a train if an engineer does not respond to an alert, the new technology would create a predictive model to better understand substantial danger, Metrolink public relations manager Meredith Yeoman said.

From Los Angeles Times

Chandler, who officially takes up the post on Friday, is one of the tower’s famous Yeoman Warders, part of a corps founded in the 15th century.

From Seattle Times