yeo·man (yōmən)
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Tweet n. 1. a. An attendant, servant, or lesser official in a royal or noble household. b. A yeoman of the guard. 2. A petty officer performing chiefly clerical duties in the US Navy. 3. An assistant or other subordinate, as of a sheriff. 4. A diligent, dependable worker. 5. A farmer who cultivates his own land, especially a member of a former class of small freeholders in England. [Middle English yeman, yoman, perhaps contraction of yong man, young man (yong, young; see YOUNG + man, man; see MAN), or from Old English *gēaman (from or akin to Old Frisian gāman, villager : gā, region, district + man, man; see man-1 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots).] |
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