Dictionary  knightPronunciation: (nīt), [key] —n. 1. a mounted soldier serving under a feudal superior in the Middle Ages. 2. (in Europe in the Middle Ages) a man, usually of noble birth, who after an apprenticeship as page and squire was raised to honorable military rank and bound to chivalrous conduct. 3. any person of a rank similar to that of the medieval knight. 4. a man upon whom the nonhereditary dignity of knighthood is conferred by a sovereign because of personal merit or for services rendered to the country. In Great Britain he holds the rank next below that of a baronet, and the title Sir is prefixed to the Christian name, as in Sir John Smith. 5. a member of any order or association that designates its members as knights. 6. Chess.a piece shaped like a horse's head, moved one square vertically and then two squares horizontally or one square horizontally and two squares vertically. 7. Naut. a. a short vertical timber having on its head a sheave through which running rigging is rove. b. any other fitting or erection bearing such a sheave. —v.t. to dub or make (a man) a knight. KnightPronunciation: (nīt), [key] —n. 1. Eric, 1897–1943, U.S. novelist, born in England. 2. Frank Hy•ne•man Pronunciation: (hī'nu-mun), [key] 1885–1972, U.S. economist. Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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