[knight] n [ME, fr. OE cniht man-at-arms, boy, servant; akin to OHG kneht youth, military follower] (bef. 12c) 1 a (1): a mounted man-at-arms serving a feudal superior; esp: a man ceremonially inducted into special military rank usu. after completing service as page and squire (2): a man honored by a sovereign for merit and in Great Britain ranking below a baronet (3): a person of antiquity equal to a knight in rank b: a man devoted to the service of a lady as her attendant or champion c: a member of an order or society
2: either of two pieces of the same color in a set of chessmen having the power to make an L-shaped move of two squares in one row and one square in a perpendicular row over squares that may be occupied
[2]knight vt (13c): to make a knight of