Yeomen

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Yeoman \Yeo"man\, n.; pl. {Yeomen}. [OE. yoman, [yogh]eman,
     [yogh]oman; of uncertain origin; perhaps the first, syllable
     is akin to OFries. g[=a] district, region, G. gau, OHG. gewi,
     gouwi, Goth. gawi. [root]100.]
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     1. A common man, or one of the commonly of the first or most


        respectable class; a freeholder; a man free born.
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     Note: A yeoman in England is considered as next in order to
           the gentry. The word is little used in the United
           States, unless as a title in law proceedings and
           instruments, designating occupation, and this only in
           particular States.
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     2. A servant; a retainer. [Obs.]
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              A yeman hadde he and servants no mo.  --Chaucer.
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     3. A yeoman of the guard; also, a member of the yeomanry
        cavalry. [Eng.]
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     4. (Naut.) An interior officer under the boatswain, gunner,
        or carpenters, charged with the stowage, account, and
        distribution of the stores.
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     {Yeoman of the guard}, one of the bodyguard of the English
        sovereign, consisting of the hundred yeomen, armed with
        partisans, and habited in the costume of the sixteenth
        century. They are members of the royal household.
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