knight
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also Knight
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[edit] English
[edit] Pronunciation
- enPR: nīt, IPA: /naɪt/, SAMPA: /naIt/ or IPA: /knaɪt/
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Audio (US) (file) -
Audio (Massachusetts) (file) - Rhymes: -aɪt
- Homophones: night, nite
[edit] Etymology 1
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 (cf. Dutch knecht ‘attendant, servant’, German Knecht ‘lad; slave’), originally ‘billet (wood), block of wood’ (compare Dutch laarzeknecht ‘boot-jack’, German dialect Knüchtel ‘bat, club’), from Proto-Indo-European *gnegʰ-, from *gen- ‘to ball up, pinch, compress’.
[edit] Noun
knight (plural knights)
- A warrior, especially of the Middle Ages.
- King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
- 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.
[edit] Synonyms
- (chess piece): horse (rare)
[edit] Derived terms
Terms derived from the noun knight
[edit] See also
- Appendix:Chess_pieces
- (chess pieces) chessman, chess piece, chess piece, chesspiece; bishop, castle/rook, king, knight, pawn, queen (Category: en:Chess) [edit]
[edit] Translations
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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[edit] Etymology 2
From Middle English knighten, kniȝten, from the noun. Cognate with Middle High German knehten.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Translations
to confer a knighthood upon
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[edit] See also
[edit] Middle English
[edit] Noun
knight (plural knights)