yeomanette, n. U.S. colloq. (now Hist.).
(jəʊməˈnɛt)
[f. yeoman n. 2 c + -ette.]
A woman yeoman of the U.S. naval reserve (esp. during and immediately after the war of 1914–18).
| 1918 Afloat & Ashore 18 Sept. 13/2 Yeomanette Smithy spent a weekend at Holly Hill recently and says the red bugs did not behave themselves. 1919 Army & Navy Register (U.S.) 15 Feb. 200/2 The terms ‘yeowoman’ and ‘yeomanette’ have been applied to the young ladies who are serving in the naval reserve force. 1945 Mencken Amer. Lang. Suppl. I. 361 It was World War I that really gave the -ette ending a start in the United States. It was first applied, I believe, to the yeomanettes who did clerical work for the Navy. 1979 R. Lerman Eleanor 56 Two years ago, before she became a yeomenette [sic] and went to work for Franklin at Navy, she was my social secretary. |