Junker derives from the MHG junk-herre (“young lord”), and in the Middle Ages it originally denoted young  nobles living on their father's estate. The name was retained when they entered court or military service, for example as Hofjunker (“court Junker”), Kammerjunker (“chamber Junker”), or Fahnenjunker (“flag Junker”) [10. 25]. In Dutch, Jonkheer was a general title for a nobleman. From the late Middle Ages, the word Junker acquired a further meaning, becoming in a stricter sense a term of the estates system defining (including as a self-descriptio…