Etymology
From Middle English knight, knyght, kniht, from Old English cniht (“boy; servant, knight”), from Proto-West Germanic *kneht.
Noun
knight (plural knights)
- (historical) A young servant or follower; a trained military attendant in service of a lord.
- (historical) A minor nobleman with an honorable military rank who had served as a page and squire.
- An armored and mounted warrior of the Middle Ages.
- King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
- (modern) A person on whom a knighthood has been conferred by a monarch.
- (literary) A brave, chivalrous, and honorable man devoted to a noble cause or love interest.
- A chess piece, often in the shape of a horse's head, that is moved two squares in one direction and one at right angles to that direction in a single move, leaping over any intervening pieces.
Derived terms
- black knight
- knightage
- knight-errant
- knighthood
- knight in shining armor
- Knights of Columbus
- Knight Templar
- white knight
Verb
knight (third-person singular simple present knights, present participle knighting, simple past and past participle knighted)
- (transitive) To confer knighthood upon.
- The king knighted the young squire.
- (chess, transitive) To promote (a pawn) to a knight.
Credits
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