Knecht

See also: knecht

English

Etymology

German surname, from Middle High German and Middle Low German knecht (“journeyman, knight's servant”).

Proper noun

Knecht (plural Knechts)

1. A surname from German.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Knecht is the 6,267^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 5,452 individuals. Knecht is most common among White (95.34%) individuals.

Further reading

• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Knecht”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 2, New York City: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 322.

German

Etymology

From Middle High German knëht, from Old High German kneht, from Proto-West Germanic *kneht.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /knɛçt/
• Rhymes: -ɛçt

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

Knecht m (strong, genitive Knechtes or Knechts, plural Knechte, feminine Magd)

1. male servant, menial, especially on a farm
2. (figurative) serf, subordinate, someone unfree who serves another
3. (historical) a soldier, often a mercenary, of the 15th to 17th centuries
4. (obsolete) a boy or (young) man, typically of the lower classes

Declension

Declension of Knecht [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Knecht	die	Knechte
genitive	eines	des	Knechtes, Knechts	der	Knechte
dative	einem	dem	Knecht, Knechte1	den	Knechten
accusative	einen	den	Knecht	die	Knechte

¹Now uncommon, see notes.

Derived terms

• knechtisch
• Knechtschaft f
• Knecht Ruprecht
• Folterknecht
• Landsknecht

Descendants

• → Russian: кнехт (knext)

Further reading

• “Knecht” in Duden online
• “Knecht” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Hunsrik

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kneçt/

Noun

Knecht m (plural Knecht)

1. servant

Further reading

• Online Hunsrik Dictionary