knight
see also: Knight
Pronunciation Etymology 1

From Middle English knight, knyght, kniht, from Old English cniht, from Proto-West Germanic *kneht.

Noun

knight (plural knights)

  1. (historical) A young servant or follower; a trained military attendant in service of a lord.
  2. (historical) A minor nobleman with an honourable military rank who had served as a page and squire.
  3. (by extension) An armored and mounted warrior of the Middle Ages.
    King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
  4. (law, historical) A person obliged to provide knight service in exchange for maintenance of an estate held in knight's fee.
  5. (modern) A person on whom a knighthood has been conferred by a monarch.
  6. (literary) A brave, chivalrous and honorable man devoted to a noble cause or love interest.
  7. (chess) 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.
  8. (card games, dated) A playing card bearing the figure of a knight; the knave or jack.
  9. (entomology) Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genus Ypthima.
  10. (modern) Any mushroom belonging to genus Tricholoma.
Synonyms
  • (chess piece) horse (informal)
Translations Translations Translations Etymology 2

From Middle English knighten, kniȝten, from the noun.

Verb

knight (knights, present participle knighting; simple past and past participle knighted)

  1. (transitive) To confer knighthood upon.
    Synonyms: beknight
    The king knighted the young squire.
  2. (chess, transitive) To promote (a pawn) to a knight.
Synonyms Translations
  • French: faire chevalier
  • German: zum Ritter schlagen
  • Portuguese: dar o título de cavaleiro
  • Russian: посвящать в рыцари

Knight
Etymology

From Middle English knyghte, from Old English cniht.

Pronunciation Proper noun
  1. Surname for someone who was a mounted soldier.
  2. A town in Iron County, Wisconsin.
  3. A settlement on Saint Croix.



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