yeoman: [14] Etymologically, a yeoman is probably simply a ‘young man’; indeed originally the word denoted a ‘junior household servant’, between a squire and a page in rank. It started life as yongman, a compound of Middle English yong ‘young’ and man, and was gradually eroded to yeoman. The modern sense ‘freeholding farmer’, and its metaphorical extensions, emerged in the 15th century. => man, young[yeoman etymology, yeoman origin, 英语词源]