# knight

Pronunciation: say "NYT" /naɪt/

## Noun

1. In the Middle Ages, a man of noble rank who served as an armored warrior on horseback, usually after training as a page and squire.
   - Simple: In the past, a soldier of high rank who wore armor and fought on a horse.
   - _A knight in full armor needed a strong horse to carry him into battle._
   - _Heavily armored knights on horseback could break an infantry line in a single charge._
2. A person who has been granted a knighthood, usually by a monarch.
   - Simple: A person who has been given a special honor called a knighthood, usually by a king or queen.
   - _The veteran actor, now a knight, still insists that friends call him by his first name._
   - _Among this year's new knights are a surgeon, a novelist and a former Olympic rower._
3. A chess piece, often shaped like a horse's head, that moves two squares in one direction and one at a right angle in a single turn, jumping over any pieces in between.
   - Simple: A chess piece, often shaped like a horse's head, that moves in an L shape and can jump over other pieces.
   - _White's knight forked the king and the rook, and Black had to give up the rook._
   - _Many players bring out both knights early, before the bishops._
5. A brave, chivalrous and honorable man devoted to a noble cause or to someone he loves. *(literary)*
   - Simple: A brave, kind and honest man who is loyal to a good cause or to someone he loves.
   - _In the novel, the quiet schoolteacher proves to be her true knight, risking his job to clear her name._
   - _The volunteers saw themselves as knights of a noble cause and worked through the winter without pay._
6. A member of a fraternal organization whose members are known as knights, for example the Knights of Columbus.
   - Simple: A member of a club or brotherhood whose members are called knights, such as the Knights of Columbus.
   - _As a Knight of Columbus, he helped run the parish's winter coat drive every year._
   - _The local council's knights raised enough money to build a wheelchair ramp at the church._
7. A person bound to perform knight service in return for keeping an estate held by knight's fee.
   - Simple: In the past, someone who had to give a lord a knight's service in return for keeping land.
   - _Under the terms of his tenure, the knight owed the crown armed service whenever it was demanded._
   - _The court ruled that the knight had forfeited his estate by failing to perform the service it required._
10. A court card showing a rider on horseback, used in tarot packs and in Italian and Spanish packs; in older English descriptions, also a name for the jack.
   - Simple: A playing card with a picture of a rider on a horse, used in tarot and some European card packs.
11. Any of the mushrooms that make up the genus Tricholoma.
   - Simple: One of a group of mushrooms that scientists call Tricholoma.
   - _Under the old pines the forager spotted a knight pushing up through the needles._
   - _Several knights look alike, so she checked the gills and the smell before naming the one in her basket._
12. Any of certain butterflies of the genus Ypthima, such as the dusky knight of Australia; most species in the genus are called rings.
   - Simple: One of a few butterflies in a group that scientists call Ypthima, such as the dusky knight of Australia.
   - _A dusky knight flew low over the grassland, stopping often to feed at small flowers._
   - _The dusky knight is easy to overlook, because its dull brown wings, marked with small eyespots, blend into the grass where it settles._
13. A butterfly of tropical and subtropical Asia, the nymphalid species Lebadea martha.
   - Simple: A kind of butterfly that lives in the warm parts of Asia.
   - _A knight glided across the forest trail in northern Thailand and settled on a patch of damp ground._
   - _Photographers visiting the rainforests of Southeast Asia often hope to catch the knight with its wings spread._

## Verb

4. To give someone the rank or honor of a knight.
   - Simple: To give someone the special title of knight.
   - _The young squire hoped his lord would knight him after the campaign._
   - _The king knighted the conductor for a lifetime of service to music._
9. To promote a pawn so that it becomes a knight.
   - Simple: To turn a pawn into a knight in a game of chess.
   - _Rather than queen the pawn, White knighted it to deliver an immediate check._
   - _Most players would queen the pawn, but she chose to knight it and fork the king and queen._

## Noun

8. A youth in service to a lord, whether as a servant or follower or as a trained armed attendant. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: In the past, a young servant, or a trained fighter who served a lord.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–3, 5–8, 10–13** — Old English cniht meant "boy, servant, knight" and goes back to Proto-West Germanic *kneht. In Middle English it appears as knight, knyght or kniht.
**Meanings 4, 9** — The noun knight was turned into a verb during the Middle English period, giving forms such as knighten and kniȝten. Middle High German knehten is a cognate.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/knight (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).