knightessn.
/nʌɪˈtɛs/, /ˈnʌɪtᵻs/, U.S. /ˈnaɪdəs/ rare.
a. A woman who fights like a knight.
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the mind > emotion > courage > chivalry > [noun] > a woman who fights like a knight
knightessa1556
a1556 N. Udall Ralph Roister Doister (?1566) iv. viii. sig. H.jv Too it againe, my knightesses, downe with them all.
b. A female member of a knightly order.
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society > society and the community > social class > nobility > rank > knight > [noun] > position of commander in an order > female member
knightess1693
society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > soldier by branch of army > [noun] > mounted soldier > knight > female
knight-wife1483
knightess1693
1693 A. Gavin Short Hist. Monastical Orders ii. ii. 238 The Order of the Nuns Knightesses, Sword-bearers of St. James in Spain.
1843 Mirror II. 161/2 There is reason to believe that as well as Knights there were knight-esses, or ladies, of that order.
c. The wife of a knight.
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society > society and the community > social class > nobility > rank > knight > [noun] > wife of knight
knightess1845
1845 B. Disraeli Sybil I. ii. ii. 114 The ‘honourable baronetess’..or the ‘honourable knightess’.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1901; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.a1556