yeomanly

comparative more yeomanly · superlative most yeomanly

1. Like a yeoman: stout and true.

   […] it was almost as if he were back at Wethermel, so yeomanly and free seemed all about him.

   1914, William Morris, The Sundering Flood

   1 more example

   “Say as thou list, Wamba,” replied the Knight, “these yeomen did thy master Cedric yeomanly service at Torquilstone.”

   1820, Walter Scott, chapter 40, in Ivanhoe

2. Of or proper to the class of yeomen in British history

   Judge Abbott is, therefore, of good yeomanly pedigree.

   1884, Various, Bay State Monthly, Vol. I, No. 3, March, 1884

   1 more example

   Her name was Anne Bowden; and she was of a respectable family, that had been long stationary in Devonshire, but of a yeomanly rank[…].

   1893, Thomas De Quincey, The Posthumous Works of Thomas De Quincey, Vol. II (2 vols)

comparative more yeomanly · superlative most yeomanly

1. Like a yeoman: stoutly and bravely

   […] the men were working yeomanly to build a new nation[…]

   1875, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Betty's Bright Idea; Deacon Pitkin's Farm; and The First Christmas

   1 more example

   "Well and yeomanly done!" shouted the robbers; "fair play and Old England for ever!"

   1819, Walter Scott, chapter 11, in Ivanhoe