n.
- (Abbr. Knt. or Kt.) A medieval tenant giving military service as a mounted man-at-arms to a feudal landholder.
- (Abbr. Knt. or Kt.) A medieval gentleman-soldier, usually high-born, raised by a sovereign to privileged military status after training as a page and squire.
- (Abbr. K.) A man holding a nonhereditary title conferred by a sovereign in recognition of personal merit or service to the country.
- (Abbr. Knt. or Kt.) A man belonging to an order or brotherhood.
- A defender, champion, or zealous upholder of a cause or principle.
- The devoted champion of a lady.
- (Abbr. Kt or N) Games. A chess piece, usually in the shape of a horse's head, that can be moved two squares along a rank and one along a file or two squares along a file and one along a rank. The knight is the only piece that can jump other pieces to land on an open square.
To raise (a person) to knighthood.
[Middle English, from Old English cniht.]
knightly knight'ly adj. & adv.knightliness knight'li·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
