yeomanry

noun

yeo·​man·​ry ˈyō-mən-rē 

1

: the body of yeomen

specifically : the body of small landed proprietors of the middle class

2

: a British volunteer cavalry force created from yeomen in 1761 as a home defense force and reorganized in 1907 as part of the territorial force

Examples of yeomanry in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Many proponents and beneficiaries of the Homestead Act envisioned yeomanry as an alternative to wage labor, but not as an escape from the market economy: corn, wheat, and other cash crops predominated from the outset. —Binyamin Appelbaum, Foreign Affairs, 16 Feb. 2021

In some ways this affluent proletariat viewed itself as a kind of modern yeomanry — willing to serve the country in war, but anxious to live self-sufficiently and among equals. —Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 16 Aug. 2019

Research by Robert Allen, an economic historian at New York University Abu Dhabi, concludes that the big, capitalist estates which resulted from enclosure were not much more productive than common land farmed by the yeomanry. —The Economist, 12 Sep. 2019

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

yeomanry

noun

yeo·​man·​ry ˈyō-mən-rē 

: a body of yeomen