The English word is rooted in the Old English ‘iunge man’ or , ‘young man’ or ‘yonge man’, and this meaning possibly combined with ‘geaman’, ‘geman’, or ‘gauman’, meaning district, villager, or countryman rustic.
In the Fifteenth Century, a ‘yeoman’ was also a farmer of middling social status who owned his own land and often farmed it himself into prosperity. In German occupational and social standing, the ‘yeoman farmer’ is known as a ‘Freibauer’ (meaning freehold farmer).
In the middle ages or medieval times, a ‘yeoman’ was identified as a rank, or position in a noble or royal household with titles such as: Yeoman of the Chamber, Yeoman of the Crown, Yeoman Usher, King’s Yeoman, and various others. Most duties were connected with protecting the sovereign and dignitaries as a bodyguard, attending the sovereign with various tasks as needed, or duties assigned to his office.