knight

See also: Knight

English

A knight (warrior).

A knight (chess).

Pronunciation

• enPR: nīt, IPA^(key): /naɪt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪt
• Homophones: night, nite

Etymology 1

From Middle English knight, knyght, kniht, from Old English cniht (“boy; servant, knight”), from Proto-West Germanic *kneht.

Alternative forms

• knyght

Noun

knight (plural knights)

1. (historical) A young servant or follower; a trained military attendant in service of a lord.
2. (historical) A minor nobleman with an honourable military rank who had served as a page and squire.
3. (by extension) An armored and mounted warrior of the Middle Ages.

   King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table

4. (law, historical) A person obliged to provide knight service in exchange for maintenance of an estate held in knight's fee.
5. (modern) A person on whom a knighthood has been conferred by a monarch.
6. (literary) A brave, chivalrous and honorable man devoted to a noble cause or love interest.
8. (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.
9. (card games, dated) A playing card bearing the figure of a knight; the knave or jack.
10. (entomology) Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genus Ypthima.
11. (modern) Any mushroom belonging to genus Tricholoma.

Synonyms

• (chess piece): horse (informal)

Hyponyms

• knight banneret, banneret

Coordinate terms

• knight's fee, knight service

Derived terms

Terms derived from the noun knight

• ale-knight
• ashen knight (Tricholoma virgatum)
• belted knight
• birch knight (Tricholoma fulvum)
• bitter knight (Tricholoma acerbum)
• black knight
• blue-spot knight (Tricholoma columbetta)
• booted knight (Tricholoma focale)
• burnt knight (Tricholoma ustale)
• carpet knight
• chemical knight (Tricholoma stiparophyllum)
• Dark Knight
• dark-scaled knight (Tricholoma atrosquamosum)
• deceiving knight (Tricholoma sejunctum)
• dusky knight (Ypthima arctous)
• giant knight (Tricholoma colossus)
• girdled knight (Tricholoma cingulatum)
• gray knight, grey knight (Tricholoma terreum)
• imperial knight
• kanigget
• knight adventurer
• knight adventurous
• knightage
• Knight Bachelor, knight bachelor
• knight-bairn
• knight-banneret
• knight banneret
• knight baronet
• knight brother
• knight caligate
• knight caligate of arms
• knight-cross
• knight-errant
• knight errant
• knight-errantry
• knight-erratic
• knightess
• knightfully
• knight-head
• knighthood
• knightify
• knight in shining armor, knight in shining armour
• knightless
• knightling
• knightly
• knightmare
• knight marshal
• Knight Marshal, knight-marshal
• knight-money
• knight of adventurers
• knight of arms
• Knight of Grace
• knight of industry, knight of the industry
• Knight of Justice
• Knight of Malta
• Knight of Parliament
• Knight of Rhodes
• knight of St Crispin
• Knight of St John
• Knight of the Bath
• knight of the blade
• knight of the brush
• knight of the carpet
• knight of the chamber
• knight of the cleaver
• knight of the collar
• Knight of the Commonty
• knight of the cue
• knight of the elbow
• knight of the field
• Knight of the Garter
• knight of the grammar
• knight of the green baize
• knight of the green cloth
• knight of the hammer
• knight of the knife
• knight of the needle
• knight of the order of the fork
• knight of the pen
• knight of the pencil
• knight of the pestle
• knight of the post
• knight of the quill
• knight of the rainbow
• knight of the road
• Knight of the Round Table
• Knight of the Rueful Countenance
• knight of the shears
• Knight of the Shire
• knight of the shire
• knight of the spigot
• Knight of the Spur
• knight of the square flag
• knight of the stick
• knight of the thimble
• Knight of the Thistle
• knight of the vapour
• knight of the wheel
• knight of the whip
• knight of the whipping-post
• Knight of Windsor
• Knightsbridge
• knight's cross
• knight service
• knight-service
• knight's fee
• knightship
• knight's milfoil (Achillea millefolium)
• knight's move
• Knights of Columbus
• Knights of Labor
• Knights of Pythias
• knight's pondwort
• knight's progress
• knight's star
• knight's water-sengreen
• knight's wort
• knight's woundwort (Achillea millefolium)
• Knight Templar
• knight wager
• knight-weed
• knight-wife
• knightwise
• lance-knight
• learning-knight
• matt knight (Tricholoma imbricatum)
• Military Knight of Windsor
• Naval Knights of Windsor
• orange knight (Tricholoma aurantium)
• poplar knight (Tricholoma populinum)
• scaly knight (Tricholoma vaccinum)
• scented knight (Tricholoma apium)
• silver knight
• silver knight (Psaltoda plaga)
• soapy knight (Tricholoma saponaceum)
• sulphur knight (Tricholoma sulphureum)
• Tolleshunt Knights
• upright knight (Tricholoma stans)
• white knight
• white-knight
• yellowing knight (Tricholoma argyraceum, syn. Tricholoma sculpturatum)
• yellow knight (Tricholoma equestre)

 

Translations

warrior, especially of the Middle Ages

• Afrikaans: ridder
• Albanian: kalorës (sq) m, kalorëse f
• Arabic: فَارِس (ar) m (fāris)
• Armenian: ասպետ (hy) (aspet)
• Aromanian: caballeru m
• Azerbaijani: cəngavər, rıtsar
• Basque: zaldun
• Belarusian: ры́цар m (rýcar), ві́цязь m (vícjazʹ), багаты́р m (bahatýr), лы́цар m (lýcar)
• Breton: marc'heg (br)
• Bulgarian: ри́цар (bg) m (rícar)
• Catalan: cavaller (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 騎士／骑士 (zh) (qíshì), 大俠／大侠 (zh) (dàxiá), 爵士 (zh) (juéshì)

• Cornish: marghek m, marghoges f
• Czech: rytíř (cs) m, vítěz (cs)
• Danish: ridder (da) c
• Dutch: ridder (nl) m
• Esperanto: kavaliro
• Estonian: rüütel (et)
• Finnish: ritari (fi)
• French: chevalier (fr) m

  Middle French: chevalier m

  Old French: chevalier m

• Friulian: cavalîr m
• Galician: cabaleiro (gl) m, cabaleira f
• Georgian: რაინდი (raindi)
• German: Ritter (de) m

  Middle High German: rîtære m, rîter m, riter m, ritter m

• Greek: ιππότης (el) m (ippótis)
• Hebrew: פָּרָשׁ (he) m (parásh), אַבִּיר (he) m (abír)
• Hindi: शूरवीर (hi) m (śūrvīr), राउल (hi) m (rāul), नाइट m (nāiṭ)
• Hungarian: lovag (hu)
• Icelandic: riddari (is) m
• Ido: kavaliero (io)
• Indonesian: ksatria (id)
• Interlingua: cavallero, cavaliero
• Irish: ridire m
• Italian: cavaliere (it) m
• Japanese: 騎士 (ja) (きし, kishi), ナイト (ja) (naito)
• Kazakh: сері (serı)
• Khmer: អស្សឬទ្ធិ (ahsa’ rɨɨ tʰi’)
• Korean: 기사(騎士) (ko) (gisa), 나이트 (naiteu)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: سوارا (swara)

  Northern Kurdish: şovalye (ku), siwarî (ku)

• Kyrgyz: рыцарь (ky) (rıtsar)
• Latin: eques (la) m

  Medieval Latin: mīles (la) m, mīlitāris (la) m

• Latvian: bruņinieks m
• Lithuanian: riteris m
• Low German:

  German Low German: ridder

• Macedonian: витез m (vitez), рицар (mk) m (ricar), ритер (mk) m (riter)
• Malay: kesatria
• Maltese: kavallier
• Manx: reejerey
• Maranao: kabayo
• Middle English: knyght, chivaler
• Norwegian: ridder (no)

  Nynorsk: riddar

• Norwegian Bokmål: ridder (no) m
• Old English: ridda m
• Old Occitan: cavaller, cavalier
• Persian: شهسوار (fa) (šahsavâr), شوالیه (fa) (šovâliye)
• Polish: rycerz (pl) m pers, raciądz (pl) m pers
• Portuguese: cavaleiro (pt) m
• Romanian: cavaler (ro) m
• Russian: ры́царь (ru) m (rýcarʹ), ви́тязь (ru) m (vítjazʹ), богаты́рь (ru) m (bogatýrʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: ridire m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: витез m

  Roman: vitez (sh) m

• Sicilian: cavaleri (scn) m
• Slovak: rytier m, víťaz m
• Slovene: vitez (sl) m
• Spanish: caballero (es) m, caballera f
• Swedish: knekt (sv) c, riddare (sv) c
• Tagalog: kabalyero (tl), maginoo
• Tajik: баҳодур (bahodur), ритсар (ritsar)
• Thai: อัศวิน (th) (àt-sà-win)
• Turkish: şövalye (tr)
• Ukrainian: ли́цар m (lýcar), ри́цар m (rýcar), ви́тязь m (výtjazʹ), богати́р (uk) m (bohatýr)
• Uyghur: چەۋەنداز (chewendaz)
• Uzbek: ritsar (uz)
• Vietnamese: hiệp sĩ (vi)
• Vilamovian: rycyż m
• Welsh: marchog m
• West Frisian: ridder
• Yiddish: ריטער m (riter)
• Zazaki: sahsuar m, sowalya m, aspar (diq)

person on whom a knighthood has been conferred

• Armenian: ասպետ (hy) (aspet)
• Basque: zaldun
• Belarusian: ры́цар m (rýcar)
• Bulgarian: ри́цар (bg) m (rícar)
• Catalan: cavaller (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 騎士／骑士 (zh) (qíshì)

• Czech: rytíř (cs) m
• Danish: ridder (da) c
• Dutch: ridder (nl) m
• Esperanto: kavaliro
• Finnish: ritari (fi)
• French: chevalier (fr) m
• Galician: cabaleiro (gl) m, cabaleira f
• Georgian: რაინდი (raindi)
• German: Ritter (de) m
• Greek: ιππότης (el) (ippótis)
• Hebrew: אַבִּיר (he) m (abír)
• Icelandic: riddari (is) m
• Indonesian: ksatria (id)
• Irish: ridire m
• Japanese: 騎士 (ja) (きし, kishi)
• Kazakh: сері (serı)
• Khmer: អស្សឬទ្ធិ (ahsa’ rɨɨ tʰi’)
• Korean: 기사(騎士) (ko) (gisa)
• Macedonian: витез m (vitez)
• Marathi: नाइट m (nāiṭ)
• Middle English: knyght
• Norwegian: ridder (no) m
• Polish: rycerz (pl) m pers (ancient), kawaler (pl) m pers (modern)
• Portuguese: cavaleiro (pt) m
• Romanian: cavaler (ro) m
• Russian: ры́царь (ru) m (rýcarʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: ridire m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: витез m

  Roman: vitez (sh) m

• Slovak: rytier m
• Slovene: vitez (sl) m
• Spanish: caballero (es) m, caballera f
• Swedish: riddare (sv) c
• Turkish: şövalye (tr)
• Ukrainian: ли́цар m (lýcar)
• Uyghur: چەۋەنداز (chewendaz), سېر ئۇنۋانى (sër unwani)

chess piece

• Afrikaans: ruiter (af), perd (af)
• Albanian: kalë (sq) m
• Arabic: حِصَان (ar) m (ḥiṣān), فَرَس m (faras)
• Armenian: ձի (hy) (ji)
• Azerbaijani: at (az)
• Basque: zaldi (eu)
• Belarusian: конь m (konʹ), ве́ршнік m (vjéršnik), ко́ннік m (kónnik), ко́ньнік m (kónʹnik)
• Bengali: ঘোড়া (bn) (ghōṛa)
• Bulgarian: кон (bg) m (kon)
• Burmese: မြင်း (my) (mrang:)
• Catalan: cavall (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 馬／马 (maa⁵), 騎士／骑士 (ke⁴ si⁶)

  Mandarin: 馬／马 (zh) (mǎ), 騎士／骑士 (zh) (qíshì)

• Czech: jezdec (cs) m
• Danish: springer (da) c, hest (da) c
• Dutch: paard (nl) n
• Esperanto: ĉevalo (eo)
• Estonian: ratsu (et)
• Faroese: riddari m
• Finnish: ratsu (fi)
• French: cavalier (fr) m
• Galician: cabalo (gl) m
• Georgian: მხედარი (mxedari)
• German: Springer (de) m, ^{(please verify)} Gaul (de) m, Pferd (de) n, Ross (de) n, Rössel n (South German), Rössl n (South German)
• Greek: ίππος (el) m (íppos), άλογο (el) n (álogo)
• Hebrew: פָּרָשׁ (he) m (parash)
• Hindi: घोड़ा (hi) m (ghoṛā)
• Hungarian: huszár (hu), ló (hu)
• Icelandic: riddari (is) m
• Indonesian: kuda (id)
• Irish: ridire m
• Italian: cavallo (it) m
• Japanese: ナイト (ja) (naito) (in Western chess), 桂馬 (ja) (けいま, keima) (in shogi)
• Javanese: jaran (jv)
• Kashmiri: گُر (ks) m (gur)
• Kazakh: ат (kk) (at)
• Khmer: សេះ (km) (seh)
• Korean: 나이트 (naiteu)
• Kyrgyz: ат (ky) (at)
• Lao: ມ້າ (mā)
• Latvian: zirdziņš m
• Lithuanian: žirgas (lt) m
• Luxembourgish: Sprénger (lb) m
• Macedonian: коњ m (konj)
• Malay: kuda (ms)
• Malayalam: കുതിര (ml) (kutira) (cavalry)
• Maori: toa (mi)
• Marathi: घोडा (mr) m (ghoḍā)
• Middle English: knyght
• Middle Persian: SWSYA (asp)
• Mongolian: морь (mn) (morʹ)
• Navajo: hashkééjí naatʼááh
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: springer m, hest (no) m

  Nynorsk: springar m, hest m

• Ojibwe: zhiimaaganish
• Persian: اسب (fa) (asb)
• Polish: skoczek (pl) m anim, konik (pl) m anim, koń (pl) m anim
• Portuguese: cavalo (pt) m
• Romanian: cal (ro) m
• Russian: конь (ru) m (konʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: коњ m, скакач m

  Roman: konj (sh) m, skakač (sh) m

• Slovak: jazdec m
• Slovene: konj (sl) m, skakač m
• Spanish: caballo (es) m
• Swahili: farasi (sw), jemadari
• Swedish: springare (sv) c, häst (sv) c
• Tajik: асп (tg) (asp)
• Tatar: ат (tt) (at)
• Thai: ม้า (th) (máa)
• Turkish: at (tr)
• Turkmen: at (tk)
• Ukrainian: кінь (uk) m (kinʹ)
• Urdu: گھوڑا m (ghoṛā)
• Uyghur: ئات (ug) (at)
• Uzbek: asp (uz), ot (uz)
• Vietnamese: mã (vi)
• Yiddish: ריטער m (riter), שפּרינגער m (shpringer), זקן m (zokn)
• Zazaki: bergir (diq) m

See also

• ♘, ♞

• Appendix:Chess pieces

Etymology 2

From Middle English knighten, kniȝten, from the noun. Cognate with Middle High German knehten.

Verb

knight (third-person singular simple present knights, present participle knighting, simple past and past participle knighted)

1. (transitive) To confer knighthood upon.

   The king knighted the young squire.

2. (chess, transitive) To promote (a pawn) to a knight.

Synonyms

• dub

Derived terms

Terms derived from the verb to knight

• knighted
• knighting

Translations

to confer a knighthood upon

• Czech: pasovat (cs)
• Danish: slå til ridder
• Dutch: ridderen (nl)
• Esperanto: kavaliri
• Estonian: rüütliks lööma
• Finnish: lyödä ritariksi
• French: faire chevalier
• German: zum Ritter schlagen
• Hebrew: העניק תואר אבירות (he'eník tó'ar abirút)
• Hungarian: lovaggá üt (hu)
• Macedonian: прогласува за витез (proglasuva za vitez)
• Maori: whakanaiti
• Persian: شوالیه کردن (šovâlye kardan)
• Polish: pasować na rycerza impf nadać rangę kawalerską
• Portuguese: dar o título de cavaleiro
• Russian: посвяща́ть в ры́цари (posvjaščátʹ v rýcari)
• Swedish: dubba (sv)
• Yiddish: באַריטערן (baritern)
• Zazaki: sowalya kerden

See also

• paladin
• baronet

References

• “knight”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Middle English

Noun

knight

1. Alternative form of knyght