define yeoman
William Harris
Updated on May 19, 2026
Definition of yeoman
1a : an attendant or officer in a royal or noble household. b : a person attending or assisting another : retainer. c : yeoman of the guard. d : a naval petty officer who performs clerical duties.
Is yeoman a compliment?
: very good, hard, and valuable work that someone does especially to support a cause, to help a team, etc. They’ve done yeoman’s work in raising money for the organization.
What is an example of a yeoman?
The definition of a yeoman is an attendant, servant or assistant in England or a petty officer in the U.S. Navy. An example of a yeoman is a butler in an old British mystery novel. A farmer who cultivates his own land, especially a member of a former class of small freeholders in England.
Where does the phrase yeoman’s work come from?
Etymology. An allusion to stouthearted, dutiful labor performed by a yeoman.
Was a yeoman a gentleman?
Yeoman is included; probably for the first time in an English language dictionary. But only a legal definition was given: (1) a social class immediately below a Gentleman; and (2) a freeborn man who can sell “his own free land in yearly revenue to the summe of 40 shillings Sterling”.
What is a yeoman in Robin Hood?
The term ‘yeoman’ is used extensively in the ballads but definition is not easy, as the meaning had changed over the years. Originally, he could be a farmer or leaseholder with a small income, or an employee of the estate such as a forester or gamekeeper.
What is a yeoman’s job?
yeoman’s work/service
: very good, hard, and valuable work that someone does especially to support a cause, to help a team, etc. They’ve done yeoman’s work in raising money for the organization.
What are the duties of a yeoman?
Yeoman perform administrative and clerical work. They receive visitors, answer telephone calls and sort incoming mail. They type, organize files and operate modern office equipment such as word processing computers and copying machines.
What rank is a yeoman?
Criteria: Worn by Yeomen (YN) with ranks from Petty Officer 3rd Class (E-4) to Petty Officer 1st Class (E-6). Yeomen are typically responsible for the clerical and secretarial work of the USN. Their tasks often include writing business and personal letters, notices, directives, forms and reports.
What social class is the nun in Canterbury Tales?
In The Canterbury Tales, the two female characters are The Prioress and The Wife of Bath, who would have belonged to the First Estate and mercantile classes, respectively. As a Nun, The Prioress would be a virgin, while The Wife of Bath would have been both a wife and a widow, having been married several times.
What is a yeoman in the Coast Guard?
Yeomen, familiarly referred to as YNs, are vital components of the Coast Guard’s day-to-day functioning. They work directly with personnel in problem-solving, counseling, and answering questions related to career changes, entitlements, incentive programs, retirement, and veterans’ benefits.
What is a yeoman Star Trek?
Yeoman is a title, the equivalent of which is used by the service organizations of many civilizations. As a Starfleet rating, yeoman is an enlisted title, a petty officer senior to a crewman.
What are yeoman farmers?
Yeoman farmers stood at the center of antebellum southern society, belonging to the ranks neither of elite planters nor of the poor and landless; most important, from the perspective of the farmers themselves, they were free and independent, unlike slaves.
What does the word Postbellum mean?
Definition of postbellum
: of, relating to, or characteristic of the period following a war and especially following the American Civil War.
What is the difference between a yeoman and a farmer?
As nouns the difference between farmer and yeoman
is that farmer is a person who works the land or who keeps livestock, especially on a farm while yeoman is an official providing honorable service in a royal or high noble household, ranking between a squire and a page.
What was a yeoman in 1850s?
yeoman, in English history, a class intermediate between the gentry and the labourers; a yeoman was usually a landholder but could also be a retainer, guard, attendant, or subordinate official.
How did someone become a yeoman?
If a person didn’t hail from the nobility and didn’t own significant land, he was considered a part of the peasantry. If a person wasn’t a part of the nobility but owned a sizable amount of land, he was considered a yeoman. The yeomen class was distinct from the landed gentry and burgesses.