† ˈcotman Hist.
Also 6 cote man.
[f. cot1, cote1 + man.]
The tenant of a cot or cottage; a cottager, ‘cotset’, or ‘coterell’; in Sc. a cottar. Also attrib., as in cotman land, agricultural land held by a cotman.
| c 1086 Domesday Bk., Worcestersh. (Spelman), Et 8 bordarii & Cotmanni cum 2 carucis. 1358 Durh. Halmote Rolls (Surtees) I. 24 Quilibet cotmannus habeat partem suam pasturæ. 1559 Richmond. Wills (Surtees) 142, I bequith unto every cotman within the towne of Myddilton ijd a pece. 1584 Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 13 Everie house holder, as well gentle men as also husbandmen and cote men. 1823 Caledonian Mercury 20 Nov. (Jam.), A boy belonging to a cotman on the farm. 1882 C. Elton Orig. Eng. Hist. 193 At Rotherfield..there are three kinds of land, Assart, Farthing-land and Cotmanland. |