meaning of knight
1. To dub or create (one) a knight; -- done in England by the sovereign only, who taps the kneeling candidate with a sword, saying: Rise, Sir ---.
2. A knight of the most ancient, but lowest, order of English knights, and not a member of any order of chivalry. See Bachelor, 4.
3. A knight who carried a banner, who possessed fiefs to a greater amount than the knight bachelor, and who was obliged to serve in war with a greater number of attendants. The dignity was sometimes conferred by the sovereign in person on the field of battle.
4. See Baronet.
5. See Commandery, n. , 3, and also Templar, n. , 1 and 3.
6. A young servant or follower; a military attendant.
7. In feudal times, a man-at-arms serving on horseback and admitted to a certain military rank with special ceremonies, including an oath to protect the distressed, maintain the right, and live a stainless life.
8. One on whom knighthood, a dignity next below that of baronet, is conferred by the sovereign, entitling him to be addressed as Sir; as, Sir John.
9. A champion; a partisan; a lover.
10. A piece used in the game of chess, usually bearing a horses head.
11. A playing card bearing the figure of a knight; the knave or jack.
12. An officer in the household of the British sovereign, who has cognizance of transgressions within the royal household and verge, and of contracts made there, a member of the household being one of the parties.
13. A tenure of lands held by knights on condition of performing military service. See Chivalry, n. , 4.
14. a chessman in the shape of a horses head; can move two squares horizontally and one vertically or vice versa
Related Words
knight | knight bachelor | knight banneret | knight errantry | knight of the round table | knight of the square flag | knight templar | knight-er-ratic | knight-errant | knight-errantries | knight-errantry | knight-errants | knightage | knighted | knighthead | knighthood | knightia | knighting | knightless | knightliness | knightly | knights | knights service | knights-errant |
