n. [ OE. knight, cniht, knight, soldier, AS. cniht, cneoht, a boy, youth, attendant, military follower; akin to D. & G. knecht servant; perh. akin to E. kin. ] 1. A young servant or follower; a military attendant. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (a) 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. (b) 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. [ Eng. ] Hence: (c) A champion; a partisan; a lover. “Give this ring to my true knight.” Shak “In all your quarrels will I be your knight.” Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Knights, by their oaths, should right poor ladies' harms. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Formerly, when a knight's name was not known, it was customary to address him as Sir Knight. The rank of a knight is not hereditary. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A piece used in the game of chess, usually bearing a horse's head. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A playing card bearing the figure of a knight; the knave or jack. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Carpet knight. See under Carpet. --
Knight of industry. See Chevalier d'industrie, under Chevalier. --
Knight of Malta,
Knight of Rhodes,
Knight of St. John of Jerusalem. See Hospitaler. --
Knight of the post, one who gained his living by giving false evidence on trials, or false bail; hence, a sharper in general. Nares. “A knight of the post, . . . quoth he, for so I am termed; a fellow that will swear you anything for twelve pence.” Nash. --
Knight of the shire, in England, one of the representatives of a county in Parliament, in distinction from the representatives of cities and boroughs. --
Knights commanders,
Knights grand cross, different classes of the Order of the Bath. See under Bath, and Companion.
Knights of labor, a secret organization whose professed purpose is to secure and maintain the rights of workingmen as respects their relations to their employers. [ U. S. ] --
Knights of Pythias, a secret order, founded in Washington, D. C., in 1864, for social and charitable purposes. --
Knights of the Round Table, knights belonging to an order which, according to the legendary accounts, was instituted by the mythical King Arthur. They derived their common title from the table around which they sat on certain solemn days. Brande & C. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Knighted; p. pr. & vb. n. Knighting. ] 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 ---. [ 1913 Webster ]

A soldier, by the honor-giving hand
Of Cœur-de-Lion knighted in the field. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The body of knights, taken collectively. [ 1913 Webster ]

pl. Knights bachelors A knight of the most ancient, but lowest, order of English knights, and not a member of any order of chivalry. See Bachelor, 4. [ 1913 Webster ]

pl. Knights bannerets. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

pos>n. See Baronet. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Knight-errants, or Knights-errant. A wandering knight; a knight who traveled in search of adventures, for the purpose of exhibiting military skill, prowess, and generosity. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Knight-errantries The character or actions of wandering knights; the practice of wandering in quest of adventures; chivalry; a quixotic or romantic adventure or scheme. [ 1913 Webster ]

The rigid guardian [ i. e., conscience ] of a blameless heart
Is weak with rank knight-erratries o'errun. Young. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to a knight-errant or to knight-errantry. [ R. ] Quart. Rev. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Naut.) A bollard timber. See under Bollard. [ 1913 Webster ]