yeo|man

yeo|man «YOH muhn», noun, plural -men.

1. U.S. Navy. a petty officer who has charge of supplies and accounts and acts as a secretary or clerk.

2. British. a yeoman of the guard.

3. in Great Britain (chiefly historically): a) a man who owned a small amount of land and ranked as a commoner; freeholder. A yeoman usually farmed the land himself. b) a man who farms his own land, especially a man of respectable standing.

4. Archaic. a) a servant or attendant of a lord or king. He was usually of superior grade, ranking between a sergeant and a groom, or a squire and a page. b) an assistant to an official: »

the sheriff's yeoman.

5. British. a member of the yeomanry.

╂[Middle English yoman, and yeman; origin uncertain. Compare Frisian gāman villager.]