\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.]
1. A common man, or one of the commonly of the first or most
   respectable class; a freeholder; a man free born.
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.
2. A servant; a retainer. [Obs.]
         A yeman hadde he and servants no mo.  --Chaucer.
3. A yeoman of the guard; also, a member of the yeomanry
   cavalry. [Eng.]
4. (Naut.) An interior officer under the boatswain, gunner,
   or carpenters, charged with the stowage, account, and
   distribution of the stores.
{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.