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Knight

means simply a boy. (Saxon, cniht.) As boys (like the Latin puer and French garcon) were used as servants, so cniht came to mean a servant. Those who served the feudal kings bore arms, and persons admitted to this privilege were the king’s knights; as this distinction was limited to men of family, the word became a title of honour next to the nobility. In modern Latin, a knight is termed auraʹtus (golden), fròm the gilt spurs which he used to wear.

Last of the knights. Maximilian I. of Germany (1459, 1493–1519).

 

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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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Knave of Sologne (A)
Knee
Knee Tribute
Kneph
Knickerbocker (Diedrich)
Knickerbockers
Knife
Knife
Knife and Fork
Knifeboard
Knight
Knight Rider Street (London)
Knight of La Mancha
Knight of the Bleeding Heart
Knight of the Cloak (The)
Knight of the Couching Leopard (The)
Knight of the Order of John-William (A)
Knight of the Post
Knight of the Rueful Countenance
Knight’s Fee
Knight’s Ward (The)