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Knave

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A lad, a garcon, a servant. (Anglo-Saxon, cnáfa; German, knabe.) The knave of clubs, etc., is the son or servant of the king and queen thereof. In an old version of the Bible we read: “Paul, a knave of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle,” etc. (Rom. i. 1).

This version, we are told, is in the Harleian Library, but is generally supposed to be a forgery. But, without doubt, Wycliff (Rev. xii. 5, 13) used the compound “Knave-child,” and Chaucer uses the same in the Man of Lawe’s Tale, line 5130.

 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Kit’s Coty House
Kitchen
Kitchenmaid (Mrs.)
Kite (A)
Kite-flying
Kitely
Kittle of Fish
Klaus (Peter)
Klephts (The)
Knack
Knave
Knave of Hearts (A)
Knave of Sologne (A)
Knee
Knee Tribute
Kneph
Knickerbocker (Diedrich)
Knickerbockers
Knife
Knife
Knife and Fork