knight
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also Knight
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English[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
- enPR: nīt, IPA: /naɪt/, X-SAMPA: /naIt/
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Audio (US) (file) -
Audio (Massachusetts) (file) - Rhymes: -aɪt
- Homophones: night, nite
Etymology 1[edit]
From Middle English knight, kniht, from Old English cniht, cneht, cneoht (“boy, youth, servant, attendant, retainer, disciple, warrior, boyhood, junior member of a guild”), from Proto-Germanic *knehtaz (compare Dutch knecht (“attendant, servant”), German Knecht (“lad, slave”)), originally ‘billet (wood), block of wood’ (compare Dutch laarzeknecht (“boot-jack”), dialectal German Knüchtel (“bat, club”), from Proto-Indo-European *gnegʰ-, from *gen- ‘to ball up, pinch, compress’.
Noun[edit]
knight (plural knights)
- A warrior, especially of the Middle Ages.
- King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
- A young servant or follower; a military attendant.
- Nowadays, a person on whom a knighthood has been conferred by a monarch.
- (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.
- (card games, dated) A playing card bearing the figure of a knight; the knave or jack.
Synonyms[edit]
- (chess piece): horse (rare)
Derived terms[edit]
Terms derived from the noun knight
See also[edit]
- Appendix:Chess_pieces
- (chess pieces) chessman, chess piece, chess piece; bishop, castle/rook, king, knight, pawn, queen (Category: en:Chess) [edit]
Translations[edit]
warrior, especially of the Middle Ages
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person on whom a knighthood has been conferred
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chess piece
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Etymology 2[edit]
From Middle English knighten, kniȝten, from the noun. Cognate with Middle High German knehten.
Verb[edit]
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.
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
to confer a knighthood upon
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See also[edit]
Middle English[edit]
Noun[edit]
knight (plural knights)
Categories:
- English terms with homophones
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Chess
- en:Card games
- English dated terms
- English verbs
- Middle English nouns