| 释义 |
▪ I. knight, n.|naɪt|
Forms: α. 1–3 cniht, (1 cnæht, cneoht, 3 Orm. cnihht), 4 cniȝt, (3 cnih, 5 cnect); 1–5 knyht, (2 knicht, 3 kniȝt, knict), 3–4 kniht, 3–5 kniȝt, knyȝt, (5 knyȝht), 4–6 knyght, (5–6 knygt, Sc. knicht, knycht), 4– knight. (β. 3 cniþt, knicth, 4 knitht, knytht, knigth, kniȝth, 5 knygth; 3–4 knith, 4– 5 (6 Sc.) knyth. γ. 3 knit, 4 knite, 4–5 knyte, 6 knytt.)
[A common WGer. word: OE. cniht, cneoht = OFris. knecht, kniucht, OS. (in)knecht (MDu. and Du. knecht), OHG., MHG. kneht (G. knecht). In the continental tongues the prevailing senses are ‘lad, servant, soldier’. The genitive pl. in ME. was occas. knighten(e]
I.
†1. A boy, youth, lad. (Only in OE.) Obs.
c893K. ælfred Oros. iii. vii. §2 Philippus, þa he cniht wæs, wæs Thebanum to ᵹisle ᵹeseald. c925Laws of Ine c. 7 §2 Tyn-wintre cniht mæᵹ bion þiefðe ᵹewita. c950Lindisf. Gosp. John vi. 9 Is cnæht an her. 971Blickl. Hom. 175 He wearþ færinga ᵹeong cniht & sona eft eald man.
†2. A boy or lad employed as an attendant or servant; hence, by extension, a male servant or attendant of any age. Obs.
c950Lindisf. Gosp. Luke xii. 45 Onginneð..slaa ða cnæhtas & ðiuwas. a1000Boeth. Metr. xxvi. 180 Cnihtas wurdon, ealde ᵹe ᵹiunge, ealle forhwerfde to sumum diore. c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. ix. 15 Þæs brydguman cnihtas. c1205Lay. 3346 Heo sende..to þare cnihtene inne, heo hehte hem faren hire wei. Ibid. 29636 Þus spac ure drihten wið Austin his cnihten. c1250Hymn Virgin 16 in Trin. Coll. Hom. App. 255 Swete leuedi, of me þu reowe & haue merci of þin knicht [cf. 22 ic am þi mon].
3. With genitive, or poss. pron.: A military servant or follower (of a king or some other specified superior); later, one devoted to the service of a lady as her attendant, or her champion in war or the tournament; hence also fig., and even applied to a woman (quot. 1599).
This is logically the direct predecessor of sense 4, the ‘king's knight’ having become the ‘knight’ par excellence, and a lady's knight being usually one of knightly rank.
a1100O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1087 Þa wæron innan þam castele Oda bisceopes cnihtas. Ibid. an. 1094 Rogger Peiteuin..& seofen hundred þes cynges cnihta mid him. c1369Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 1179 That she wolde holde me for hir knyght, My lady that is so faire. a1450Le Morte Arth. 328, I my self wille wyth you abyde, And be youre servante and youre knight. 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. (1858) I. 14 Syne thus he said, in presence of his men, ‘My knichtis kene [etc.]’. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iii. ii. 142 O find him, giue this Ring to my true Knight. 1599― Much Ado v. iii. 13 Pardon goddesse of the night, Those that slew thy virgin knight. 1712–14Pope Rape Lock iii. 129 So Ladies in Romance assist their Knight, Present the spear, and arm him for the fight. 1859Tennyson Elaine 958 In all your quarrels will I be your knight.
4. Name of an order or rank.
a. In the Middle Ages: Originally (as in 3), A military servant of the king or other person of rank; a feudal tenant holding land from a superior on condition of serving in the field as a mounted and well-armed man. In the fully-developed feudal system: One raised to honourable military rank by the king or other qualified person, the distinction being usually conferred only upon one of noble birth who had served a regular apprenticeship (as page and squire) to the profession of arms, and thus being a regular step in this even for those of the highest rank.
b. In modern times (from the 16th c.): One upon whom a certain rank, regarded as corresponding to that of the mediæval knight, is conferred by the sovereign in recognition of personal merit, or as a reward for services rendered to the crown or country.
The distinctive title of a knight (mediæval or modern) is Sir prefixed to the name, as ‘Sir John Falstaff’: Knight (also abbrev. Knt. or Kt.) may be added, but this is now somewhat unusual. A knight who is not a member of any special order of knighthood (see 12 b below) is properly a Knight Bachelor (see bachelor 1 b). Various ceremonies have at different times been used in conferring the honour of knighthood, esp. that of the recipient kneeling while the sovereign touches his shoulder with the flat of a sword; knights of the higher orders are now frequently created by letters-patent. In point of rank the mediæval knight was inferior to earl and baron; modern knights rank below baronets, and the dignity is not hereditary.
In early use the knight, as the type of the military profession, was freq. contrasted with clerk, merchant, etc., and, in point of rank, with king. The characteristic qualities expected in a knight, as bravery, courtesy, and chivalrous conduct, are frequently alluded to, and the name (esp. with adjs., as a good knight) often implied these qualities as well as the mere rank.
a1100O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1086 Þænne wæron mid him ealle þa rice men..abbodas & eorlas, þeᵹnas & cnihtas. a1124Ibid., Þes kinges stiward of France..& fela oðre godre cnihte. a1250Owl & Night. 1573 Moni chapmon, and moni cniht, Luveth and halt his wif ariht. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 11608 Þo turnde grimbaud pauncefot to sir edward anon & was imad kniȝt. c1315A. Davy Dreams 4 A kniȝth of mychel miȝth, His name is ihote sir Edward þe kyng. 1340Ayenb. 36 Hi..makeþ beggeres þe knyȝtes and þe heȝemen þet uolȝeþ þe tornemens. c1386Chaucer Prol. 72 He was a verray parfit gentil knyght. 1411Rolls of Parlt. III. 650/2 All the Knythes and Esquiers and Yomen that had ledynge of men on his partie. c1425Eng. Conq. Irel. 92 Now we wyllen turne ayeyne to our knyghten gestes yn Irlande. 1470–85Malory Arthur i. xv, He was a passyng good knyght of a kynge, and but a yong man. 1556Chron. Gr. Friars (Camden) 22 There was slayne kynge Henrys sone and many other lordes and knyttes. 1577Harrison England ii. v. (1877) i. 114 Knights be not borne, neither is anie Man a Knight by succession. 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. viii. 57 Alexr Leuingstoun knicht..is elected gouernour of the Realme. 1648Art. Peace c. 7 The estates..of the lords, knights, gentlemen, and free⁓holders..of Connaught. 1771Smollett Humph. Cl. 3 Oct., We found the knight sitting on a couch, with his crutches by his side. 1800Coleridge Love iv, She leaned against..The statue of the armed knight. 1818Letters Patent in Nicholas Hist. Ord. Knighthood (1842) IV. 7 The said Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, shall..consist of Three Classes of Knights of the said Order.
c. More fully Knight of the Shire: A gentleman representing a shire or county in parliament; originally one of two of the rank of knight; with the abolition of almost all distinctive features of the county representation, the term has lost its distinctive meaning and is only used technically and Hist.: cf. burgess 1 b. Formerly sometimes Knight of the Commonty or of Parliament.
1399Langl. Rich. Redeles iv. 41 Thei must..mete togedir, Þe knyȝtis of þe comunete and carpe of the maters, With Citiseyns of shiris. 1444Rolls of Parlt. V. 110/2 All other that will be atte the assessyng of the wages of the Knyghtes of the Shire. 1538Fitzherb. Just. Peas (1554) 132 b, Sherifes must returne such persons knights of the parliament which be chosen by þe greater nombre of the freholders. [1544Act 35 Hen. VIII, c. 11 The Knights of all and euery Shire..chosen for their assembly in the Kings high Court of Parliament.] 1617Minsheu Ductor, Knights of the Shire,..otherwise bee called Knights of the Parliament, and be two Knights, or other Gentlemen of worth, that are chosen in Pleno Comitatu, by the Free⁓holders of euery County. 1648Prynne Plea for Lords B iij b, The King..might call two Knights, Citizens and Burgesses to Parliament. Ibid. C j b, There could be no Knights of Shires..to serve in Parliament. 1679Evelyn Mem. 4 Feb., My Brother, Evelyn, was now chosen Knight for the County of Surrey. 1711Steele Spect. No. 109 ⁋7 He served his Country as Knight of this Shire to his dying Day. 1765Blackstone Comm. I. ii. 128 With regard to the elections of knights, citizens, and burgesses. 1844Ld. Brougham Brit. Const. iii. (1862) 47 The knights are to represent the ‘community of the counties’, the citizens and burgesses the ‘community of the towns’.
d. Name of an order or rank in the political association called the ‘Primrose League’.
1885Primrose League 10 Obtain thirteen Signatures to the form of Declaration as Knights, or Dames. Ibid. 12 After having been a Member of the League for twelve months,..a Knight, as a special reward for meritorious service, may be elevated to the rank of Knight Companion. 1885Primrose Rec. 17 Sept. 109 It is needless to say that they will induce as many as possible to enrol themselves as Knights, Dames, or Associates of the League.
e. Fig. phr. knight in shining armour: in informal or ironic use, a person regarded as a medieval knight in respect of his chivalrous spirit, especially towards women.
1965V. Canning Whip Hand xv. 188 A man..didn't have to be a knight in shining armour. 1967M. Summerton Memory of Darkness x. 124 Most people regard him as a crank. I'm afraid, so far as Dilys is concerned, he makes a very ineffectual knight in shining armour. 1968A. Diment Gt. Spy Race i. 8, I was one of the new knights in shining PVC armour. Come to rescue the lower-middle class maiden from the dragon of boredom. 1973Ottawa Jrnl. 16 Aug. 1/6 ‘Throughout his whole brief, Mr. Cassidy has attempted to portray himself as a knight in shining armor but on close examination it portrays our whole judicial system as something less than perfect,’ said Chief Seguin.
†5.
a. Applied to personages of ancient history or mythology, viewed as holding a position or rank similar to that of the mediæval knight. Obs.
c1205Lay. 406 Assaracus wes god cniht; Wið Grickes he heold moni fiht. c1250Gen. & Ex. 283 Ðo wurð he drake ðat ear was kniȝt. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 4185 Hardy Iulius, knyght war & wys. c1400Destr. Troy 2740 Parys the pert knight, and his pure brother Comyn vnto courtte with company grete, Of thre thowsaund þro knightes. 1513Douglas æneis ix. xi. 48 Equicolie A lusty knycht in armis rycht semly. 1535Coverdale 2 Kings ix. 25 And Iehu sayde vnto Bidekar the knyghte. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iv. v. 86 This Aiax..This blended Knight, halfe Troian, and halfe Greeke.
b. freq. transl. L. mīles, a common soldier.
Miles was the regular med.L. equivalent of ‘knight’.
c1200Ormin 8185 Hise cnihhtess alle imæn Forþȝedenn..Wiþþ heore wæpenn alle bun. c1300Cursor M. 19824 Cornelius..calde til him tua men and a knite. 1382Wyclif Matt. xxvii. 27 Thanne kniȝtis of the president takynge Jhesu in the mote halle, gedriden to hym all the cumpanye of kniȝtis. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 14 b/2 He is delyverd to knyghtis for to be beten. 1563Winȝet Four Scoir Thre Quest. Wks. 1888 I. 77 That knycht quha peirsit our Lordis syde with the speir.
fig.c1375Sc. Leg. Saints ii. (Paul) 218, I am cristis lauchtful knycht. 1382Wyclif 2 Tim. ii. 3 Trauele þou as a good knyȝt [Vulg. miles, Tindale, etc. soudier, souldier] of crist ihesu. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 293 In parte they be weyke, and not of the strongest knyghtes of god.
6. a. Roman Antiq. (tr. L. eques horseman). One of the class of equites, who originally formed the cavalry of the Roman army, and at a later period were a wealthy class of great political importance.
1375Barbour Bruce iii. 210 Off Ryngis..That war off knychtis fyngerys tane He send thre bollis to Cartage. 1601Holland Pliny II. 459 There were none at Rome vnder the degree of a knight or gentleman that carried rings on their fingers. 1850Merivale Rom. Emp. (1852) I. 79 The leader of the senate, the patron of the knights,..Pompeius.
b. Greek Antiq. (tr. Gr. ἵππευς horseman). A citizen of the second class at Athens in the constitution of Solon, being one whose income amounted to 300 medimni.
1820T. Mitchell Aristophanes, The Knights, or, The Demagogues. 1836Thirlwall Greece II. xi. 37 The members of the second class were called knights, being accounted able to keep a war-horse. 1885Stewart & Long Plutarch's Lives III. 498 The knights rode..in solemn procession to the temple of Zeus.
7. In games:
a. One of the pieces in the game of chess, now usually distinguished by the figure of a horse's head; fig. knight's move, an indirect or devious move.
c1440Gesta Rom. xxi. 71 (Harl. MS.) The chekir or þe chesse hath viij poyntes in eche partie..þe knyȝt hath iij poyntes. 1474Caxton Chesse ii. iv. C iij b, The knight ought to be maad al armed upon an hors in such wise that he have an helme on his heed [etc.]. 1562Rowbotham Play of Cheastes, The knight hath his top cut asloope, as thoughe beynge dubbed knight. 1689Young Statesmen vi. in Coll. Poems Popery 8/2 So have I seen a King on Chess, (His Rooks and Knights withdrawn). 1870Hardy & Ware Mod. Hoyle, Chess 39 The knight has a power of moving which is quite peculiar. 1958P. Shore in N. Mackenzie Conviction 37 The favoured entrant moves, to quote the current jargon, by a series of ‘knight's moves’ over the management board. 1959Listener Jan. 219/2 Mankind does move forward, even if it is often by the Knight's move. 1963V. Nabokov Gift iv. 228 Any genuinely new trend is a knight's move, a change of shadows, a shift that displaces the mirror. 1967G. Sims Last Best Friend xviii. 168 We took a kind of Knight's move, one step forward and a jump to the side. 1972W. McGivern Caprifoil (1973) ii. 37 You've made a knight's move in thought.
†b. The knave in cards. Obs.
1585Higins tr. Junius' Nomenclator 294 b, Playeng cards..Eques, the knight, knaue, or varlet.
†8. Naut. Each of two strong posts or bitts on the deck of a vessel, containing sheaves through which were passed the jeers or halyards used in raising and lowering sails. (See quot. 1627.) Obs.
1495Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 200 Shyvers of brasse..in the Knyght of the fore castell. 1611Cotgr., Teste de More,..the Knights, a crooked peece of timber in the fore⁓castle of a ship. 1627Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. ii. 7 The Ramshead,..to this belong the fore Knight, and the maine Knight, vpon the second Decke... They are two short thicke peeces of wood, commonly carued with the head of a man upon them, in those are foure shiuers apeece, three for the halyards and one for the top rope to run in. a1642Sir W. Monson Naval Tracts iii. (1704) 345/2 The Knights belong to the Halyards.
9. in pl. A boys' game.
‘Two big boys take two smaller ones on their shoulders; the big boys act as horses, while the younger ones seated on their shoulders try to pull each other over’ (Alice Gomme Dict. Brit. Folk-lore 1894).
II. Sense 4, with descriptive additions.
10. Followed by an appositive n. † knight adventurer = knight-errant. † knight baronet = baronet. † knight brother, a brother in a society or order of knights. † knight wager, a mercenary soldier. See also bachelor 1 b, banneret 1 c, commander 4, companion 5, harbinger 2, hospitaller 3, Templar.
1636Massinger Bashf. Lover ii. ii, *Knight adventurers are allowed Their pages. a1652Brome Queenes Exch. v. Wks. 1873 III. 547 With Knights adventurers I went in quest.
1621Burton Anat. Mel. iii. ii. vi. v. (1651) 579 A Gentlemans daughter and heir must be married to a *Knight Barronets eldest son at least. 1706Phillips, Knight Baronet, a Combination of Title, in regard the Baronetship is generally accompany'd with that of the Knighthood; but the latter was made a distinct Order by K. James I... These Baronets were to have Precedency..before all ordinary Knights Banneret, Knights of the Bath, and Knights Batchelors.
1687Lond. Gaz. No. 2251/3 That Order [of the Thistle], consisting of the Sovereign and Twelve *Knights Brethren.
1513Douglas æneis ii. i. [i. xii.] 12 Quhat Marmidon.. Or *knycht wageor to cruell Vlixes.
11. With adj. (before or after the n.). † knight adventurous = knight-errant. † knight caligate of arms: see caligate. military († naval, poor) knight of Windsor (see 12 b).
1429Rolls of Parlt. IV. 346/2 The said Chapelle [of St. George] was founded by the right noble and worthy Kyng Edward the Thridde syn the Conquest..upon a Wardein, Chanons, poure Knyghtes, and other Ministres. c1440Promp. Parv. 279/2 Knyghte awnterows (S. knyht a-ventowrs), tiro. 1470–85Malory Arthur iv. xviii, Here am I redy, an auentures knyghte that wille fulfylle ony aduenture that ye wylle desyre. 1577Harrison England ii. v. (1877) i. 124 The thirteene chanons and six and twentie poore knights haue mantels of the order [of the garter]. 1724Lond. Gaz. No. 6290/3 First went the Poor Knights.
12. Followed by a genitive phrase.
a. Denoting a special set or class of knights (real or by courtesy). † knight of adventurers = knight-errant. † knight of arms (see 11). Knight of Grace, a knight of Malta, of a lower rank in the order. Knight of Justice, a knight of Malta possessing full privileges. knight of the carpet (see carpet n. 2 c). † knight of the chamber = prec. † knight of the community or parliament = Knight of the Shire (see 4 c). Knight of the Round Table, one of King Arthur's knights (see table). † Knight of the Shire (see 4 c). † Knight of the Spur, a knight bachelor. † knight of the square flag, a banneret. Also, Knight of the Rueful Countenance: see quot.
1530Palsgr. 236/2 *Knyght of adventures, cheualier errant.
1762–71H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) I. 206 Another person of some note..was Sir John Godsalve, created *knight of the carpet at the king's coronation.
1672Cowell Interpr., *Knights of the Chamber,..seem to be such Knights Batchelors as are made in time of Peace, because knighted commonly in the Kings Chamber.
1788Picturesque Tour thro' Europe 18 The *Knights of Justice are alone eligible to the posts of Bailiffs, Grand Priors, and Grand Masters; the *Knights of Grace are competent to all excepting these.
c1400Ywaine & Gaw. 5 Ywayne and Gawayne..war *knightes of the tabyl rownde. 1774Warton Hist. Eng. Poetry iii. (1840) I. 113 The achievements of king Arthur with his knights of the round table.
1614Selden Titles Hon. 305 *Knights of the Spurre, or those which generally are known by the name of Knights.
1718Motteux Quix. i. xvi, The champion that routed them is..the famous Don Quixote de la Mancha, otherwise called the *Knight of the Rueful Countenance.
b. Denoting a member of some order of knighthood, as Knight of the bath, garter, thistle, etc., q.v. Knight of St. John, Knight of Malta, Knight of Rhodes = hospitaller 3. Knight of the Temple = Templar. Knight of Windsor, one of a small number of military officers (Military Knights of W.) who have pensions and apartments in Windsor Castle. (From 1797 to 1892 there were also Naval Knights of W.; cf. 11.) † Also, jocularly, knight of the forked order: see forked 4 b; knight of the order of the fork, one who digs with a fork (cf. 12 c).
a1500[see garter n. 2]. 1530Palsgr. 236/2 Knight of the order of saynt Michaell. 1608Middleton Mad World, my Masters ii. v, Many of these nights will make me a knight of Windsor. 1630J. Taylor (Water P.) Great Eater of Kent 4 Some get their living by their..feet, as dancers, lackeyes, footmen, and weavers, and knights of the publicke or common order of the forke. 1631T. Powell Tom All Trades (1876) 171 A poore Knights place of Windsor. 1632Massinger Maid of Hon. i. i, You are, sir, A Knight of Malta, and, as I have heard, Have served against the Turk. 1704Collect. Voy. (Churchill) III. 690/1, 8 Persian Horses led by eight Knights of the Golden Sun. 1711Lond. Gaz. No. 4799/1 The Marquis de Suza..was lately Install'd Knight of the Order of St. Maurice. 1783Royal Warrant in Nicholas Hist. Ord. Knighthood (1842) IV. 6 Letters Patent..for creating a Society or Brotherhood, to be called Knights of the Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick. 1803Naval Chron. IX. 158 Seven Lieutenants of the Navy are to be installed Naval Knights of Windsor. 1856Emerson Eng. Traits, Manners Wks. (Bohn) II. 49 The Knights of the Bath take oath to defend injured ladies.
c. Forming various jocular (formerly often slang) phrases denoting one who is a member of a certain trade or profession, has a certain occupation or character, etc.
In the majority of these the distinctive word is the name of some tool or article commonly used by or associated with the person designated, and the number of such phrases may be indefinitely increased. Examples are:
† knight of the blade, ‘a Hector or Bully’ (B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, a 1700). knight of the brush, a painter, an artist. knight of the cleaver, a butcher. † knight of the collar, one who has been hanged. knight of the cue, a billiard-player. † knight of the elbow, a cheating gambler. † knight of the field, a tramp. † knight of the grammar, a schoolmaster. † knight of (the) industry, a sharper or swindler (F. chevalier d'industrie). † knight of the knife, a cutpurse. knight of the needle, shears, thimble, a tailor. knight of the pen, a clerk or author. knight of the pencil, a bookmaker. knight of the pestle, an apothecary. knight of the quill, a writer, author. knight of the road, (a) a highwayman; (b) a commercial traveller; (c) a tramp; (d) the driver of a lorry, taxicab, etc. knight of the spigot, a tapster or publican. † knight of the vapour, a smoker. knight of the whip, a coachman. knight of the wheel, a cyclist. knight of the whipping-post, a sharper or other disreputable person. See also knight of the post.
1885Longm. Mag. Nov. 78 A distinguished *knight of the brush.
c1554Interl. Youth in Hazl. Dodsley II. 15 Thou didst enough there For to be made *knight of the collar.
1887Graphic 15 Jan. 55/2 The ‘*knights of the cue’ keep the balls a-rolling.
1693Humours Town 92 Sharpers are divided into Bullies and *Knights of the Elbow.
1508Kennedie Flyting w. Dunbar 430 Because that Scotland of thy begging irkis, Thow scapis in France to be a *knycht of the felde.
1692Washington tr. Milton's Def. Pop. viii. M.'s Wks. (1851) 185 A Stipend large enough for a *Knight of the Grammar, or an Illustrious Critick on Horseback.
1658Cleveland Rustic Rampant Wks. (1687) 475 Our Hacksters Errant, of the Round Table, *Knights of Industry. 1668G. Etherege She wou'd if She cou'd iii. iii, Let me commend this ingenious Gentleman to Your Acquaintance; he is a Knight of the Industry. 1751Smollett Per. Pic. (1779) III. lxxxiv. 310 Our hero was a professed enemy to all knights of industry.
1614B. Jonson Barth. Fair ii. iii, Is this..a *knight of the knife?.. I meane..a cutpurse.
1778Foote Trip Calais i. 24 The *knights of the needle are another sort of people at our end of the town.
1885Punch 7 Mar. 109 The *Knights of the Pencil, Sir, hold that backers, like pike, are more ravenous in keen weather, and consequently easier to land. 1927Daily Express 11 June 7/3 We have mentioned the knights of the pencil. Bookmakers are not permitted to take up positions at will on racecourses under Greyhound Racing Association jurisdiction.
a1735Arbuthnot Ess. Apoth. Wks. 1751 II. 111 There being no part of Mankind, that affords a greater variety of uncommon Appearances than the *Knights of the Pestle.
1691–2Gentl. Jrnl. Mar. 2, I know some of your sturdy, tuff *Knights of the Quill, your old Soakers at the Cabbaline Font.
1665R. Head Eng. Rogue xxvi. 86 An Oath, which every young Thief must observe..at his investation into the honour of one of the *Knights of the Road. 1889J. Burnley Romance Mod. Industry 317 Customers used to come out miles upon summer evenings to meet the ‘knights of the road’,..and the old travellers on their part would spend two or three days with some of their clients. 1928Sunday Express 12 Feb. 11/4 Secrets of the Commercial Traveller's Bag. By John S. Banks, for twenty years a ‘Knight of the Road’. 1928Daily Express 8 Aug. 3/5 If something of this spirit could be instilled into the regular ‘knights of the road’, if they could be inspired with some notion of the dignity of work and the shame of alms-taking. 1971R. Reisner Graffiti vi. 82 Truck drivers are notorious for their..loudly expressed admiration for women. They are true knights of the road. 1974L. Deighton Spy Story ii. 20 Finally some knight of the road deigned to do a Gloucester Road to Fulham.
1821Scott Kenilw. viii, When an old song comes across us merry old *knights of the spigot, it runs away with our discretion.
1812Sporting Mag. XXXIX. 139 A gallant *knight of the thimble.
1630J. Taylor (Water P.) Great Eater of Kent 5 Some [live] by smoake; as tobacconists, *knights of the vapour, gentlemen of the whiffe, esquires of the pipe.
1813Examiner 8 Feb. 84/2 We cannot too often caution the *Knights of the Whip against so dangerous..a practice.
1819Scott Let. to Son Walter 4 Sept. in Lockhart, Blacklegs and sharpers, and all that numerous class whom..we [call] *knights of the whipping-post.
d. Knights of Columbus, a society of Roman Catholic men founded at New Haven, Connecticut, in 1882; Knights of Labour, an extensive association in the United States, embracing many of the Trade Unions; Knights of Pythias, a secret order, founded at Washington in 1864 (Funk Stand. Dict.).
1886Harper's Weekly 3 Apr. 213/3 The order of the Knights of Labour was founded in 1869 by five workmen of Philadelphia. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. II. iii. lvi. 370 The enormous organization or league of trades unions known as the Knights of Labour. 1901N.Y. Tribune 22 July 3/4 Wednesday the Knights of Columbus and Utah people will unite their forces; on Thursday another double-header. 1929F. A. Pottle Stretchers (1930) iv. 66 Besides the enormous structures of the Y.M.C.A. and..Knights of Columbus,..the general public had provided at Merritt many other agencies of relaxation and amusement quite peculiar to the camp. 1948Green Bay (Wisconsin) Press-Gaz. 12 July 16/7 Members of the Green Bay lodge Knights of Columbus were reminded today that the annual Fish Fry will be held at the Shorewood Country club next Tuesday. 1974Listener 21 Nov. 683 The Knights of Columbus are associated with lodge meetings and bingo.
III. 13. attrib. and Comb. a. With knight-, as knight-martyr; † knight-bairn, a male child; † knight-cross = knight's cross; † knight-money = knighthood-money; † knight-weed, the dress of a knight; † knight-wered, a band of warriors; † knight-wife, a female knight or warrior.
c1205Lay. 15526 Ȝif mon funde..æuer æi *cniht bærn, þe næuere fæder no ibæd.
1725Bradley Fam. Dict., Jerusalem-Cross, called by some the *Knight, or Scarlet Cross.
1826W. E. Andrews Exam. Fox's Cal. Prot. Saints 49 The condemnation of this..gentlewoman and *knight-martyr.
1643Prynne Sov. Power Parlt. ii. 31 *Knight-mony, Ship-mony, with sundry other unlawfull Taxes.
1340–70Alisaunder 544 Hee cast of his *Knightweede, & cloþes hym neew.
c1205Lay. 26766 Al þa *cniht-weorede fluen an heore steden.
1483Cath. Angl. 205/2 A *knyghte wyffe, militissa.
b. With knight's, chiefly in names of plants: knight's cross, Scarlet Lychnis, L. chalcedonica; † knight's milfoil, a yellow species of Achillea; † knight's pondwort, Water-soldier, Stratiotes aloides; knight's star, -star lily, the amaryllidaceous genus Hippeastrum; † knight's water-sengreen, wort, woundwort = knight's pondwort. See also knight's fee, knight-service.
1760J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 316 *Knight's Cross, Lychnis.
1578Lyte Dodoens i. ci. 143 The second is called..in English *Knights Milfoyle: souldiers Yerrow, and yellow knighten Yerrow.
Ibid., The first is called..in English Knights worte, Knights wounde worte, or Knightes water woundworte, *Knights Pondeworte, and of some Knights water Sengreene.
1855Loudon's Encycl. Plants 1176 *Knight's Star. 1866Treas. Bot. 590/2 The Knight's Star Lily, a genus..consisting of South American and West Indian bulbs, remarkable for their showy flowers.
c. With knighten (ME. gen. pl.): knighten court (also knights-court): see quot. 1701; knighten-gild, a gild of knights; knighten-milfoil = knight's milfoil; knightenspence, some local rate; knightenway, a military road; knighten-yarrow = knight's milfoil.
c1050Charter Edw. Confessor in Calendar Letterbks., Guildhall London (1891) III. 218 Mine men on Anᵹioce cnihte ᵹilde [read mine men on Englisce cnihte gilde.] 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. cxxix. (Add. MS.) lf. 332 Agger is an huple of stones or a tokene in þe hihe way and histories clepiþ such a wey knyȝweye [viam militarem]. 1467in Eng. Gilds (1870) 390 That then he pay taske tallage, knyghtenspence, wacches, and other charges. 1578Lyte Dodoens i. ci. 143 Yellow knighten Yerrow. Ibid., The other with the thousand leaues, called Knighten Mylfoile. 1631Weever Anc. Fun. Mon. 426 King Edgar established here without Aldgate a Knightengield or Confrery, for thirteene knights or souldiers. 1701Cowell's Interpr., Knighten-Court, Is a Court-Baron or Honor-Court, held twice a Year under the Bishop of Hereford at his Palace there; wherein those who are Lords of Manours, and their Tenants..are Suiters.
▪ II. knight, v.|naɪt|
Also 3 kniȝti, 3–4 kniȝte, 4 knyhte, knyȝte.
[ME., f. prec.]
trans. To dub or create (one) a knight.
a1300K. Horn 492 Hit nere noȝt forlorn For to kniȝte child Horn. Ibid. 644 Nu is þi wile iȝolde, King, þat þu me kniȝti woldest. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. i. 103 And crist king of kinges kniȝtide [v.r. knyhtide] tene, Cherubin and Seraphin [etc.]. 1577–87Holinshed Chron. III. 1236/1 This man..was knighted by the king. 1627Drayton Agincourt, etc. 192 This Drone yet neuer braue attempt that dar'd, Yet dares be knighted. 1712Addison Spect. No. 299 ⁋2, I was knighted in the thirty fifth Year of my Age. 1876J. Saunders Lion in Path xii, Sir Richard Constable had been knighted by King James.
Hence ˈknighted ppl. a.
1656S. Holland Don Zara ii. iv. 101 That his Isabel and Mortimer was now compleated by a Knighted Poet. 1896J. H. Wylie Hist. Eng. Hen. IV, III. 321 The flood of knighted names in the lists of fighting men. |