n.; pl. Yeomen [ OE. yoman, &yogh_;eman, &yogh_;oman; of uncertain origin; perhaps the first, syllable is akin to OFries. gā district, region, G. gau, OHG. gewi, gouwi, Goth. gawi. √100. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A common man, or one of the commonly of the first or most respectable class; a freeholder; a man free born. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A servant; a retainer. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

A yeman hadde he and servants no mo. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A yeoman of the guard; also, a member of the yeomanry cavalry. [ Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Naut.) An interior officer under the boatswain, gunner, or carpenters, charged with the stowage, account, and distribution of the stores. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Resembling, or suitable to, a yeoman; yeomanly. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to a yeoman; becoming or suitable to, a yeoman; yeomanlike. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Well could he dress his tackle yeomanly. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The position or rank of a yeoman. [ Obs. ] “His estate of yeomanry.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The collective body of yeomen, or freeholders. [ 1913 Webster ]

The enfranchised yeomanry began to feel an instinct for dominion. Bancroft. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A British volunteer cavalry force, growing out of a royal regiment of fox hunters raised by Yorkshire gentlemen in 1745 to fight the Pretender, Charles Edward; -- calle dalso yeomanry cavalry. The members furnish their own horses, have fourteen days' annual camp training, and receive pay and allowance when on duty. In 1901 the name was altered to imperial yeomanry in recognition of the services of the force in the Boer war. See Army organization, above. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

Yeomanry cavalry, certain bodies of volunteer cavalry liable to service in Great Britain only. [ Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]